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THE 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 


BY 


FREDERICK   TRACY,   B.A.,  Ph.D. 

ASSOCIATE    PROFESSOR    OP    PHILOSOPHY    IN    THE 
UNIVERSITY    OF    TORONTO,    CANADA 

AND 

JOSEPH    STIMPFL,   Ph.D. 

TEACHER    IN    THE    ROYAL    SEMINARY 
AT   BAMBERG,    GERMANY 

227  "2  Q 


SEVENTH  EDITION 
REVISED  AND  ENLARGED 


D.  C.  HEATH  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 
BOSTON    NEW  YORK    CHICAGO 


Copykight,  1894,  1901,  AND  1909 
By  FREDERICK  TRACY 


PREFACE 

The  undersigned  have  united  to  issue  the  second  German 
and  seventh  English  edition  of  The  Psychology  of  Child- 
hood. The  earlier  text  has  been  submitted  to  a  thorough 
revision,  while  the  German  author  has  added  to  the  work 
a  series  of  new  paragraphs  and  a  seventh  chapter.  These 
enlargements  deal  principally  with  abnormal  mental  con- 
ditions in  child  life.  The  fundamental  importance  of  child- 
psychology  for  the  teacher  is  now  no  longer  a  matter  of 
dispute  among  those  best  qualified  to  judge.  The  psycho- 
pathology  of  childhood  is  almost  equally  important.  In 
this  book  the  simple  or  elementary  disorders  of  the  child's 
psychic  life  are  described  in  close  connection  with  the  cor- 
responding normal  conditions;  while  the  complicated  dis- 
orders, or  "psychopathies,"  are  treated  by  themselves  in 
the  newly  added  seventh  chapter.  It  was  the  intention  of 
the  authors  to  issue  the  German  and  English  editions  simul- 
taneously ;  but  on  account  of  the  illness  of  the  English 
author  the  publication  of  the  English  edition  has  been  de- 
layed until  now.     The  German  edition  was  published  early 

in  1908. 

FREDERICK   TRACY, 

Toronto,  Canada. 

JOSEPH  STIMPFL, 

Bamberg,  Germany. 


iii 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 


CHAPTER  I.     THE  SENSES 


SECTION 

I.  Sight 

II.  IIeaking  . 

III.  Touch 

IV.  Taste 
V.  Smell 

VI.  Temperature  . 

VII.  Organic  Sensations 

VIII.  Muscular  Feelings 


CHAPTER   II.     THE   INTELLECT 

I.  Perception 

II.  Memory    .... 

III.  Association 

IV.  Imagination 
V.  The  Discursive  Processes 

VI.  The  Idea  of  Self  . 

CHAPTER  III.     THE  FEELINGS 

I.     Fear 

II.     Anger 

III.  Siirphisk,  Astonishment,  Curiosity 

IV.  ^Esthetic  Feelings    ...... 

V.     Love,  Sympathy,  etc 

VI.     Disorders  of  Feeling       . 

v 


PAGE 

vii 


1 

21 
27 
31 
34 
37 
38 
40 


44 

47 
52 
59 
63 
70 

76 
79 
81 
84 
87 
91 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV.  THE  WILL 

SECTION  PAGE 

I,     Impulsive  Movements        .......  97 

II.     Reflex  Movements    .         .  ....         .98 

III.  Instinctive  Movements     .......  102 

IV.  Ideational  Movements 105 

CHAPTER  V.     LANGUAGE 

I.     Heredity  vs.  Education  in  Language    ....  119 

II.     The  Physiological  Development    .....  123 

III.  The  Phonetic  and  Psychic  Development       .         .         .  127 

IV.  Disorders  of  Speech 163 

CHAPTER  VI.     ESTHETIC,    MORAL,   AND   RELIGIOUS 

IDEAS 

I.     The  Child's  Sense  of  the  Beautiful    ....  160 

Children's  Drawings    .......  169 

II.     The  Moral  Nature  of  the  Child  .         .        .  .179 

HI.     The  Religious  Nature  of  the  Child     ....  189 

CHAPTER  VII.     PSYCHOPATHIC   CONDITIONS  IN 
CHILD   LIFE 

I.     The  Psychic  Derangements 195 

(a)  Mania 195 

(6)  Melancholia 197 

(c)  Paranoia 199 

(d)  Imbecility 200 

II.       NEUR09E8,    OR   NeRVE  DISEASES 205 

(a)  Neurasthenia 205 

(6)  Hysteria 208 

(c)   Epilepsy 213 

III.     Summary 215 


INTRODUCTION 

The  comparative  method  of  study  has  commended  itself 
to  all  the  sciences  in  modern  times  by  its  fertility  in  results, 
and  is  now  being  employed  extensively  in  two  principal 
directions:  viz.,  the  analogical  and  the  genetical.  The 
philologist,  for  example,  compares  his  own  language,  on  the 
one  hand  with  other  languages  (in  the  search  for  analogies), 
and  on  the  other  avails  himself  of  all  manuscripts,  inscrip- 
tions, etc.,  which  show  him  his  language  in  its  earliest 
stages,  and  help  him  to  determine  by  the  operation  of  what 
causes,  and  according  to  what  laws,  it  has  developed  from 
its  original  crude  and  inefficient  state  to  its  present  pol- 
ished and  complicated  condition.  And  similarly  with  other 
sciences.  In  the  case  of  psychology  the  application  of  the 
comparative  method  has  led  the  investigator  to  the  obser- 
vation of  mental  manifestations  in  the  lower  animals ;  in 
human  beings  of  morbid  or  defective  mental  life,  such  as 
the  insane,  the  idiotic,  the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb ;  in  peoples 
of  different  types  of  culture,  ancient  and  modern,  savage 
and  civilized ;  and  finally  to  the  study  of  the  mental  life  in 
the  early  stages  of  its  development  in  the  child.  Such 
study  has  already  yielded  valuable  results,  not  only  for 
psychology  itself  (which  now  finds  itself  in  possession  of 
that  genetic  point  of  view  which  has  proved  so  valuable  in 
other  sciences),  but  most  of  all  for  pedagogy,  whose  very 
business  it  is  to  facilitate  the  healthy  unfolding  of  that  life 
whose  early  stages  we  here  seek  to  understand. 


viil  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

When  we  compare  the  young  child  with  the  young  animal, 
we  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  apparent  superiority  of 
the  latter  over  the  former,  at  the  beginning  of  life.  The 
human  infant,  for  example,  requires  weeks  to  attain  the 
power  of  holding  his  head  in  equilibrium,  while  the  young 
chicken  runs  about  and  picks  up  grains  of  wheat  before 
the  first  day  of  his  life  is  over.  This,  however,  carefully 
considered,  is  a  token  rather  of  the  superiority  than  of  the 
inferiority  of  the  human  being,  and  has  most  important 
bearings  upon  the  entire  life  of  the  individual,  as  well  as 
upon  the  character  of  human  society.  The  higher  you  as- 
cend in  the  scale  of  being,  the  more  varied  and  complex  is 
the  environment  in  which  the  individual  moves,  and  to 
which  he  must  adapt  himself.  This  adaptation  requires,  on 
the  physiological  side,  a  cerebral  and  nervous  development, 
and  on  the  psychic  side  a  mental  growth,  for  which  time  is 
an  absolute  necessity.  Animals  go  on  all  their  lives,  doing 
the  same  simple  things,  which  require  a  minimum  of  mental 
activity,  and  which,  by  dint  of  constant  repetition,  produce 
physiological  adjustments  that  become  at  length  hereditary  ; 
so  that  phenomena  which  seem  to  the  casual  observer  the 
index  of  an  astonishing  degree  of  mental  advancement  — 
such  as  the  "  scampering "  of  young  chicks  on  a  certain 
peculiar  call  of  the  mother  —  are  really  at  bottom  little  more 
than  the  response  of  an  organism,  adjusted  by  heredity,  to 
the  action  of  an  external  stimulus. 

The  longer  and  more  arduous  the  journey,  the  more  time 
is  required  for  preparation  ;  the  more  complicated  the  art  to 
be  acquired,  the  more  extended  is  the  period  of  apprentice- 
ship. So  the  child,  having  an  infinitely  grander  life  before 
him,  and  infinitely  more  exalted,  complicated  and  difficult 
operations  to  perform  —  mental,  moral  and  physical  —  re- 
quires a  longer  period  of  tutelage  than  the  chicken,  which 
on  the  first  day  of  his  life  scratches  and  pecks,  and  to  the 


INTRODUCTION  IX 

end  of  his  existence  makes  no  advance  upon  these  simple 
operations.  The  young  animal,  before  the  end  of  the  first 
day  of  his  life,  does  what  it  takes  the  child  a  year  to  accom- 
plish ;  but  the  child  of  two  years  does  what  the  animal  never 
will  accomplish  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

The  object  of  the  present  essay  is  to  discuss  infant 
psychology.  What  are  the  most  important  characteristics 
of  the  unfolding  of  the  mental  life  ?  How  far  is  it  con- 
ditioned by  heredity,  and  how  far  by  education?  Wnat 
are  the  outstanding  features  of  the  process  by  which  the 
mind  comes  into  conscious  possession  of  itself  and  clear 
recognition  of  its  autonomy  ?  These  are  some  of  the  ques- 
tions to  which  the  following  pages  may  help  to  furnish  an 
answer. 

The  principle  of  transformation,  referred  to  occasionally 
in  the  text,  may  be  explained  as  follows :  Every  mental  phe- 
nomenon passes  through  a  graduated  ascending  series  of 
development.  At  first,  the  physiological  predominates, 
consciousness  is  at  a  minimum,  and  the  so-called  mental 
phenomenon  would  be  more  accurately  defined  as  the  reaction 
of  the  nervous  system  to  external  stimuli  or  to  organic 
conditions. 

For  example,  the  child  cries  at  intervals  from  the  moment 
of  his  birth,  but  at  first  this  cry  is  independent  of  his 
will,  and  possesses  scarcely  any  mental  significance,  for 
it  is  made  without  cerebral  cooperation,  and  —  as  in  the 
case  of  microcephalic  infants  —  even  when  the  cerebrum  is 
entirely  absent.  Later  the  mental  aspect  becomes  more 
prominent.  When  the  intellect  and  will  have  become 
sufficiently  developed,  the  child  directs  his  attention  to  the 
act,  makes  it  his  own,  and  performs  it  voluntarily.  The 
process  perhaps  has  not  changed  at  all,  to  outward  appear- 
ance, but  when  viewed  on  the  inner  side,  it  is  seen  to  have 
been  completely  transformed  in  character ;  and  one  of  the 


X         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

most  difficult  tasks  for  the  psychologist  is  to  determine  the 
ivhen  and  the  hoiv  of  this  transformation. 

It  may  be  well  to  explain  that  the  children  referred  to  in 
the  text  by  initial  letters  were  the  subjects  of  prolonged  and 
careful  observations,  made  by  the  author  and  others  during 
the  preparation  of  the  earlier  editions  of  this  work. 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 


CHAF'lLn    I 

2272S 
THE   SENSES 

It  is  important  to  treat  sensation  first,  because  it  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  all  mental  development.  Though  we  may 
not  agree  with  Locke,  that  all  ideas  are  derived  from  sensa- 
tion, yet  we  must  agree  that  there  are  no  ideas  in  the  mind 
prior  to  sensation.  And  looking  at  the  active  side  of  our 
nature,  the  intimate  connection  between  the  senses  and  the 
will  is  equally  manifest.  Our  sense-impressions,  produced 
by  external  objects  upon  the  peripheral  organism,  are  con- 
veyed along  the  afferent  nerves  to  sensory  centres  closely 
connected  with  corresponding  motor  centres  in  the  cerebral 
cortex.     Hence  the  importance  of  the  child's  sense-growth. 

I.    Sight 

The  Eye  of  the  New-born.  —  If  the  statement  is  made 
that  the  new-born  child  is  blind,  it  must  not  be  taken  to 
mean  that  he  is  in  darkness  —  for  the  peripheral  mechanism 
of  the  eye  is  complete  at  birth,  and  the  difference  between 
light  and  darkness  is  felt  from  the  beginning  —  but  only 
this,  that  he  cannot  as  yet  see  things,  in  the  proper  sense  of 
the  terms.  This  is  due  to  lack  of  experience,  to  imperfect 
development  of  the  cerebral  centres,  and  to  the  dazzling 
effect  of  the  light,  which  now  streams  in,  as  Sigismund 
says,  with  millions  of  waves,  upon  a  delicate  organ,  aceus- 

1 


Z  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

tomed,  up  to  this  time,  to  complete  darkness.1  This  latter 
obstacle,  however,  is  soon  overcome,  and  the  child's  progress 
in  seeing  takes  place  with  great  rapidity. 

Sensibility  to  Light.  —  This  is  the  first  feeling,  having 
an  external  cause,  which  the  child  experiences  by  means  of 
the  eye.  This  organ  is  especially  adapted,  by  its  peculiar 
mechanism  of  retina  and  rods  and  cones,  and  by  its  nerves 
and  muscles  of  convergence,  contraction  and  accommodation, 
to  receive  the  rays  of  light  that  fall  upon  it;  and  hence,  as 
soon  as  the  first  shock  is  over,  and  the  infant  eye  has  become 
accustomed  to  its  new  surroundings,  it  turns  toward  the  light 
as  naturally  as  the  opening  petals  of  a  newly  blown  flower 
turn  toward  the  rising  sun.  Or,  as  Locke  has  said :  "  Even 
as  the  soul  thirsts  for  ideas,  so  the  eye  of  the  child  thirsts 
for  the  light."  This  sensibility  to  light  is  normally  present 
in  the  first  minutes  of  life,  and  is  rarely  delayed  beyond  a 
few  hours,  except  in  the  case  of  some  malformation  of  the 
organs.  At  this  stage,  however,  the  distinction  of  light  and 
darkness  is  felt  rather  than  known;  and  even  the  turning  of 
the  head  toward  the  light,  which  has  been  observed  on  the 
second  day  of  life,  and  even  as  early  as  the  twentieth  hour, 
must  be  considered  as  nearly  akin  to  the  movement  of  the 
plant  toward  the  light.  But  this  condition  of  things  is  not 
of  long  duration.  To  take  a  single  case  (that  of  Preyer's 
boy),  we  are  told  that  he  soon  began  to  show  signs  of  pleas- 
ure at  a  moderate  light,  pain  at  too  powerful  a  glare,  and 
less  pleasure  in  darkness.  Even  during  the  first  day  the 
expression  of  his  face  changed  when  an  intervening  object 
cut  off  the  light,  and  on  the  eleventh  day  he  would  cry  when 

1  Kussmaul  also  remarks:  "  Ausgetragene  Kinder,  welche  eben  zur 
Welt  gekommen  und  ruhig  geworden  sind,  versuchen  ofter  das  Auge 
wiederholt  zu  offnen  sind  aber  immer  wieder  gezwungen  es  rasch  und 
kramphaft  vor  dem  einfallenden  hellen  Lichte  zu  schliessen." 


THE   SENSES  6 

the  light  was  carried  out  of  the  room.  As  time  passed  on, 
he  continually  took  increasing  notice  of  these  sensations, 
until  in  his  second  month  the  sight  of  a  bright  light,  or  a 
brightly  colored  object,  was  sufficient  to  elicit  from  him  ex- 
clamations of  delight. 

Too  powerful  a  light  causes  discomfort,  even  in  sleep. 
The  child  knits  his  eyelids  more  closely  together,  or  even 
becomes  restless  and  awakes.  A  very  bright  light  is  espe- 
cially painful  immediately  on  awakening,  not  only  to  the 
eye  of  the  child,  but  also  to  that  of  the  adult.  Preyer  ob- 
served that  his  boy  shut  his  eyes  and  turned  his  head  away 
when  a  candle  was  held  close  to  him  on  awakening.  But 
when  he  had  been  awake  for  some  hours,  he  looked  steadily, 
without  blinking,  at  a  candle  held  one  metre  from  his  eyes. 

With  these  qualifications,  we  may  conclude,  then,  that 
"  light  is  pleasant  to  the  eye,"  being  its  natural  "  food,"  and 
that  under  its  influence  the  delicate  organ  of  vision  grows 
and  develops,  the  visual  centres  in  the  cerebrum  become 
differentiated  and  capable  of  performing  their  function,  thus 
rendering  possible  the  subsequent  apprehension  of  qualities 
in  external  things  by  means  of  this  sense. 

Physiological  Adjustments  to  Light.  —  At  the  begin- 
ning of  life,  all  adjustments  of  the  visual  organ  to  the 
strength  of  the  light  are  reflex.  For  example,  from  the 
very  first  the  filaments  that  contract  the  pupil  perform  their 
function.  The  pupil  accommodates  itself  to  the  brightness 
of  the  light,  expanding  and  contracting,  as  Kussmaul  and 
Raehlmann  have  shown.  Both  pupils  contract  when  the 
light  reaches  one  of  them.  These  movements  of  contraction 
remain  automatic  to  the  end  of  life.  It  is  otherwise  with 
such  movements  as  following  a  moving  light  or  object  with 
the  eyes.  This  is  at  first  undoubtedly  reflex,  since  it  takes 
place  before  the  conscious  centra  have  been   sufficiently 


4         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

developed  for  voluntary  action,  but  it  afterwards  certainly 
comes  within  the  domain  of  the  will,  as  is  evident  from 
adult  conscious  experience. 

Eye-movements.  —  This  includes  movements  of  the  eye- 
balls (upward,  downward,  and  from  right  to  left,  etc.)  and 
movements  of  the  lids  (raising  and  lowering),  as  well  as  the 
relation  of  the  two  to  each  other. 

Does  the  child  possess  a  complete  nerve-mechanism  for 
eye-movements  working  perfectly  from  the  beginning,  or 
does  he  gradually  and  painfully  acquire  all  eye-movements  ? 
The  most  recent  observations  lead  to  the  following  conclu- 
sion: The  mechanism  is  inherited  complete  so  far  as  pupil, 
retina  and  nerve  tracts  are  concerned,  but  the  corresponding 
brain  centres  are  not  yet  developed  in  the  first  days,  and 
become  so  only  by  experience ;  consequently  the  adjustment 
of  movements  to  external  conditions  takes  place  by  degrees. 
No  doubt  there  is  a  hereditary  predisposition  to  coordinated 
movements,  which  to  some  extent  facilitates  the  subsequent 
adjustment,  but  the  largest  share  is  due  to  experience.  The 
following  facts  have  been  established  by  careful  observations : 

First.  —  As  to  movements  of  the  eye-balls :  Complete  con- 
scious coordination  of  the  movements  of  the  two  eyes  does 
not  take  place  during  the  first  days.  True,  the  eyes  some- 
times move  together,  even  from  the  first,  but  there  are  also 
numberless  non-coordinated  movements,  which  proves  that 
the  coordinated  ones  are  accidental  at  first,  and  that  the 
useless  movements  are  only  gradually  eliminated.  Raehl- 
mann  and  Witkowski,  in  a  very  large  number  of  observa- 
tions on  new-born  children,  carried  on  for  fifteen  years, 
found  that  the  infant  eyes,  especially  in  sleep,  "assume 
positions  and  perform  movements  which  are  entirely  con- 
trary to  all  the  principles  of  association,"  including  complete 
opposite  movements  of  the  eyes,  resulting  in  divergence  of 


THE    SENSES  U 

eye-positions.  Sometimes  the  eyes  move  together,  later- 
ally and  vertically  (though  this  coordination  is  not  so 
perfect  as  in  the  adult),  but  just  as  frequently  are  the 
movements  irregular.  Sometimes  one  eye  moves,  while 
the  other  remains  at  rest.  Sometimes  the  head  is  turned 
in  one  direction,  and  the  eyes  in  another.  A  great  deal  of 
unnecessary  convergence  takes  place,  as  I  have  frequently 
observed.  In  most  observed  cases,  however,  these  asym- 
metrical movements  have  become  very  much  less  frequent 
by  the  third  month,  and,  at  a  little  later  time,  have  almost 
entirely  disappeared,  except  in  sleep. 

Second.  —  As  to  movements  of  the  lids :  The  only  lid- 
movement  that  can  be  accepted  as  inborn,  is  the  sudden 
"blinking"  when  a  foreign  substance  comes  into  contact 
with  the  lashes  or  the  cornea,  or  on  the  sudden  approach  of 
a  strong  light.  The  mere  approach  of  the  object,  without 
contact,  does  not  produce  blinking  at  first ;  indeed,  in  some 
cases,  it  fails  in  children  two  months  old.  All  other  lid- 
movements  are  at  first  accidental.  Sometimes  the  lids  move 
together,  though  more  frequently  they  do  not.  Sometimes 
one  eye  remains  open  while  the  other  is  shut.  The  two 
eyes  do  not  always  open  to  an  equal  degree ;  and  often,  if 
one  eye  be  disturbed  and  blinking  take  place,  the  lid  of  the 
undisturbed  eye  will  follow  some  time  after  the  other.  The 
lids  are  often  raised  while  the  look  is  directed  downward, 
and  vice  versa.  The  child  often  falls  asleep  with  the  lids 
a  little  apart.  Coordination,  then,  is  not  perfect  at  first, 
but  becomes  so  by  experience.  Not  only  so,  but  the  child 
actually  has  to  unlearn  several  movements  {e.g.,  raising  the 
lids  while  the  eyes  are  directed  downward),  and  these  have 
become  impossible  in  the  adult.  Gradually  these  asym- 
metrical movements  disappear,  until  by  the  end  of  the 
third  month  they  have  become  very  rare,  except  in  sleep. 

All  that  has  been  said  concerning  movements  of  the  eyes, 


6  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OP  CHILDHOOD 

and  of  the  lids,  separately,  is  true,  mutatis  mutandis,  of  the 
relation  of  these  to  each  other.  Perfect  coordination  among 
the  several  branches  of  the  oculomotorius  is  not  present  at 
the  beginning  of  life  (not  at  all  during  the  first  ten  days, 
according  to  Raehlmann),  but  is  a  gradual  attainment,  re- 
quiring time  and  experience.  But  when  once  the  awaken- 
ing mind  has  taken  possession  of  the  eye,  and  made  the 
movements  of  that  organ  its  own,  it  becomes  one  of  the 
most  expressive  organs  of  the  body,  and  reveals  the  various 
shades  of  the  inner  feeling  with  astonishing  accuracy. 

Fixatiox.  —  By  this  is  meant  conscious  direction  of  the 
gaze  upon  an  object,  as  contrasted  with  passive  staring  into 
space.  And  the  question  of  most  importance  here  is  :  When 
does  the  child  pass  from  the  one  to  the  other?  The  question 
is  important,  because  it  throws  light  upon  the  beginning  of 
volition,  which,  in  its  exercise,  determines  in  such  large 
measure  the  mental  and  moral  development  of  the  child. 

Preyer  divides  the  "  seeing  "  of  the  infant  into  four  stages. 
I  shall  follow  his  classification,  bringing  under  each  head- 
ing also  the  observations  made  by  others  on  the  period 
in  question: 

First.  —  Staring  into  empty  space  ;  experiencing  a  sensa- 
tion, but  not  perceiving  an  object.  The  ability  to  "fixate" 
an  object  is  lacking  in  the  newly-born,  because  he  has  as 
yet  no  control  over  the  muscles  that  move  the  head  and  eyes. 
The  apparent  looking  of  the  first  days  is  not,  therefore,  a 
voluntary  or  intelligent  action,  but  only  the  instinctive  turn- 
ing of  the  head  and  eye  so  as  to  bring  the  light  into  contact 
with  the  central  portion  of  the  retina,  where  it  produces  the 
greatest  amount  of  pleasurable  feeling.  When  Champneys 
observes  that  one  child  "  fixed"  his  eyes  on  a  candle  on  the 
seventh  day,  and  Darwin  reports  that  another  child  did  the 
same  on  the  ninth  day,  Preyer  remarks  that  this  was  prob- 


THE  SENSES  < 

ably  not  real  looking,  but  only  staring  into  space,  since  in 
other  similar  cases  it  was  observed  that  the  child  continued 
to  "  look  "  when  the  object  was  withdrawn.  There  is  prob- 
ably no  fixation  in  the  first  nine  days. 

Second.  —  The  child  no  longer  "  stares,"  but  "  looks."  He 
fastens  his  gaze  upon  a  bright  extended  surface  {e.g.,  his 
mother's  face),  and  when  another  bright,  moderately  large 
object  comes  within  the  field  of  vision,  he-  turns  his  eyes 
from  the  first  to  the  second.  One  child  was  observed  to  do 
this  on  his  eleventh,  and  another  on  his  fourteenth  day. 
Along  with  the  fixing  of  the  gaze,  there  is  also  a  more 
intelligent  expression.  Perez  reports  that  a  child  observed 
by  him  "looked  fixedly  for  three  or  four  minutes  at  a 
flickering  reflection  of  light  before  the  end  of  his  first 
month."  In  another  case,  an  object  was  looked  at  steadily 
in  the  fourth  week  for  the  first  time ;  in  another,  a  yellow 
dress  held  the  child's  gaze  at  five  weeks;  and  in  still 
another  the  power  of  fixation  is  reported  on  as  still  absent 
when  the  child  was  two  months  old.  Sigismund  observes 
that  about  the  middle  of  the  first  three  months  the  child 
"  begins  to  look  at  objects  with  attention " ;  and  Eaehl- 
mann  found  that  "appropriate  selection  among  the  many 
possible  eye  and  lid  movements,  with  fixation  of  the  object, 
took  place  for  the  first  time  after  the  fifth  week." 

Roughly  generalizing  from  these  and  other  observations, 
we  may  venture  the  conclusion  that  the  average  child  begins 
to  focus  his  eyes  upon  objects  about  the  fourth  or  fifth  week 
of  his  life. 

Third.  —  In  the  third  stage,  the  child  has  acquired  the 
power  to  follow  with  his  eyes  a  bright,  moving  object. 
Here  we  have  associated  movements  of  the  eyes,  the  head 
being  motionless,  or  nearly  so.  We  have  now,  therefore,  a 
distinct  advance,  requiring  a  higher  exercise  of  power  over 
the  muscles.     The  movement  is  not   accomplished   if   the 


8         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

object  be  moved  too  rapidly.  In  one  case  the  child's  eyes 
followed  a  moving  candle  in  the  second  week ;  in  another, 
on  the  twenty-third  day.  But  most  of  the  observers  have 
noticed  this  activity  first  about  the  fifth  week,  some  as  late 
as  the  sixth  or  seventh.  Raehlmann  remarks  on  this  point 
to  the  following  effect :  Associated  lateral  movements  of  the 
eyes  can  be  found  seldom  earlier  than  the  fifth  week.  Hold 
a  bright  or  colored  object  at  a  little  distance,  directly  before 
the  child's  eyes.  One  soon  notices  a  peculiar  change  of 
expression,  accompanied  by  cessation  of  the  movements 
which  the  limbs  until  now  were  executing.  The  object  has 
been  fixated.  Now  move  it  slowly  in  a  horizontal  direction 
to  one  side,  and  both  the  eyes  follow,  but  without  movement 
of  the  head.  If  the  object  be  moved  quickly,  the  child's 
eyes  lose  it  at  once ;  and  also  if  the  movement  be  vertical 
instead  of  horizontal.  I  obtained  similar  results  in  the  case 
of  a  child  a  little  over  four  weeks  old,  except  that  the  head, 
as  well  as  the  eyes,  followed  the  object  as  it  moved  from 
side  to  side.  Genzmer,  however,  by  shaking  a  bright  object 
before  the  eyes,  obtained  not  only  fixation,  but  following 
movements,  in  a  large  number  of  children,  at  a  much  earlier 
age  than  this. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  third  stage,  Preyer  holds,  there 
is  no  necessary  cooperation  of  the  cerebrum,  but  only  of  the 
corpora  quadrigemina,  and  he  cites  in  proof  the  experiment 
of  Longet  with  a  pigeon,  from  which  the  cerebral  hemi- 
spheres had  been  carefully  removed,  and  which,  in  that 
condition,  followed  with  its  eyes  the  flame  of  a  moving 
candle.  It  may  be  remarked,  however,  that  since  the 
instinctive  and  reflex  play  so  much  larger  a  part  relatively 
in  the  lower  animals  than  in  man,  this  proof  is  not  entirely 
trustworthy,  forasmuch  as  a  movement,  which  in  the  lower 
animals  is  reflex,  may  in  man  require  the  cooperation  of 
the  cerebrum.     More  to  the  purpose  would  be  the  case  of 


THE   SENSES  9 

an  acephalous  or  microcephalous  child.  Kollman  says  of  the 
microcephalous  Margaret  Becker,  eight  years  of  age:  '•  Her 
gait  is  totteriug,  the  movements  of  the  head  and  extremities 
jerky,  not  always  coordinated,  hence  unsteady,  inappro- 
priate, and  spasmodic ;  her  look  is  restless,  objects  are  not 
definitely  fixated."  This  case  seems  to  point  in  the  opposite 
direction  from  that  of  Longet's  pigeon,  and  Preyer's  con- 
clusion therefrom. 

Fourth.  —  Here  we  pass  from  looking  to  observing,  to  the 
active  search  for  objects.  The  child  has  acquired  ability 
to  give  definite  direction  to  the  gaze,  and  hold  it  there.  Of 
course  the  first  attempts  are  often  ineffectual,  but,  roughly 
speaking,  from  about  the  third  to  the  fifth  month,  this 
power  is  obtained.  A  girl  of  ten  weeks  looked  for  the 
face  of  a  person  calling  her.  A  boy  in  his  sixth  week 
moved  his  head  to  follow  a  look  cast  in  a  certain  direction. 
Another  began  in  his  sixteenth  week  to  look  intently  at  his 
own  hands.  Another  of  twelve  weeks,  on  hearing  a  noise 
made  by  a  person  on  a  drinking  glass  with  a  moistened 
finger,  turned  his  head  in  the  direction  of  the  noise,  and, 
after  one  or  two  ineffectual  attempts,  found  the  object  with 
his  eyes  and  fixated  it.  In  the  fourteenth  week  he  followed 
promptly  the  movements  of  a  pendulum  which  made  forty 
complete  oscillations  per  minute.  Sigismund's  boy,  at 
nineteen  weeks,  paid  great  attention  to  the  movements  of  a 
pendulum,  and  afterwards  followed  the  movements  of  a 
spoon  from  dish  to  mouth  and  back  again,  with  eager  mien. 
Rapid  movements,  however,  are  not  as  yet  preferred.  In 
a  railway  carriage,  the  child  of  this  age  does  not  look  at 
the  passing  objects,  but  rather  at  the  walls  and  ceiling  of 
the  coach.  Not  before  the  twenty-ninth  week  (in  one 
observed  case)  did  the  child  look  distinctly,  beyond  doubt, 
at  a  sparrow  flying  by.  Another  "watched  the  flight  of 
birds  "  when  five  months  old.     It  will  readily  be  observed 


10        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

that  the  full  attainment  of  this  fourth  stage  involves 
voluntary  control  of  the  mechanism  of  the  eye  as  well  as 
considerable  progress  in  the  intellectual  apprehension  of 
the  external  world.  So  that  now  the  child  is  no  longer 
the  reflex,  staring  creature,  but  has  become  the  bona  fide 
"  seeing  "  human  being. 

Seeing  in  Perspective.  —  Numerous  observations  con- 
firm the  following  statements : 

(a)  The  new-born  child  does  not  see,  in  any  sense  of  the 
word,  objects  that  are  very  distant  from  him ;  or  if  he  sees 
them  at  all,  the  impression  made  by  them  upon  the  retina  is 
so  vague  as  not  to  enter  into  distinct  consciousness.  In- 
deed, there  are  few  distinct  retinal  images  at  first  from 
objects  either  near  or  distant. 

(6)  For  a  long  time  after  he  is  able  to  see  objects  at  a 
considerable  distance,  and  several  objects  at  unequal  dis- 
tances in  the  field  of  vision  together,  he  still  does  not  know 
how  unequal  their  distances  are,  or  even  that  they  are 
unequal.  The  physiological  mechanism  of  the  eye,  by 
which  it  is  "  accommodated  "  to  the  distance  of  the  object 
seen,  operates  very  early ;  but  the  estimation  of  distance  is 
long  imperfect.  At  one  month  and  five  days,  Tiedemann's 
son  "  distinguished  objects  outside  him,  and  tried  to  seize 
them,  extending  his  hands  and  bending  his  body."  By  the 
end  of  the  second  month,  there  is,  according  to  one  observer, 
a  vague  idea  of  distance.  But  most  observers  place  it  much 
later  than  this.  One  says :  "  The  first  real  grasping  of  the 
fixated  object,  with  appreciation  of  its  distance,  was  observed 
about  the  end  of  the  fifth  month.  But  it  is  very  slowly 
acquired,  and  not  until  much  later  than  this  does  the  hand 
proceed  directly,  by  the  nearest  way,  to  the  object."  An- 
other found  but  little  comprehension  of  size  or  distance 
until  the  sixth  month.     In  other  cases  great  confusion  about 


THE   SENSES  11 

distances  was  observed  in  children  nearly  a  year  old,  and 
even  far  on  into  the  second  year.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
girl  of  seven  months  showed  that  she  had  a  comparatively 
correct  idea  of  small  distances,  by  refusing  to  reach  for  an 
object  more  than  about  fourteen  inches  distant. 

(c)  At  first  the  child  sees  only  colored  surface,  and  not 
figures  in  the  third  dimension.  All  objects  present  them- 
selves to  his  eye  simply  as  patches  of  color.  Gradually,  by 
the  aid  of  movement  and  touch,  he  comes  to  a  knowledge  of 
their  cubic  properties.  Hence  also  arises  by  experience  an 
association  between  the  forms  and  distances  of  objects  and 
their  varying  degrees  of  luminosity,  so  that  the  child  comes 
to  interpret  the  one  in  terms  of  the  other.  Hence  the  prog- 
ress of  the  child  in  complete  vision,  including  all  that  is 
meant  by  the  appreciation  of  perspective,  is  immensely 
facilitated  from  the  time  he  begins  to  walk,  since,  by  loco- 
motion, he  is  able  to  approach  the  object  and  bring  sight, 
touch,  and  the  muscular  sense  to  bear  upon  its  examination. 

Color  Discrimination.  —  Not  only  is  color  blindness 
"  notoriously  hereditary  "  as  an  abnormal  condition  in  the 
adult,  but  it  is  the  normal  condition  of  the  new-born  child. 
Since  the  tractus  opticus  does  not  get  its  nerve  medulla,  and 
with  that  its  permanent  coloring,  until  the  third  or  fourth 
day  of  life,  there  is  probably  no  discrimination  of  colors  up 
to  that  time,  but  only  of  light  and  darkness.  Moreover, 
even  when  discrimination  of  colors  has  begun,  it  proceeds 
very  slowly,  and  the  investigation  is  beset  by  difficulties. 
How  are  we  to  distinguish  (e.g.)  the  mere  feeling  of  differ- 
ence between  sensations  of  color  from  intelligent  apprehen- 
sion of  the  colors  themselves  ?  Very  little  can  be  done 
until  the  child  can  speak,  and  even  then  new  difficulties 
present  themselves.  The  names  of  colors  are  more  difficult 
to  acquire  than  the  names  of  things,  because  more  abstract. 


12  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

Grant  Allen  found  that  children  of  two  years  and  even 
more,  who  knew  perfectly  well  the  names  of  grapes,  straw- 
berries, and  oranges,  had  no  appropriate  verbal  symbol  for 
purple,  crimson,  or  orange,  as  a  color;  and  I  have  found, 
in  examining  the  child-vocabularies  which  I  have  collected 
for  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  present  work,  that  out  of  five 
thousand  four  hundred  words  only  about  thirty  are  color 
terms.  In  several  cases  the  vocabulary  of  a  child  two  years 
old  contains  not  a  single  color  word,  though  he  habitually 
employs  from  three  to  five  hundred  words.  Another  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  association  between  the  color  and  its  name. 
The  child  may  know  a  color  —  red  —  perfectly  well ;  and 
may  also  know  the  sound,  —  red,  —  but  he  may  not  be  able 
to  associate  the  two  together,  so  as,  when  red  is  named,  to 
point  it  out ;  or,  when  it  is  pointed  out,  to  name  it.  This  is 
not  from  lack  of  ability  to  distinguish  color  from  color, 
but  from  inability  to  associate  the  color  with  the  spoken 
word. 

A  girl  ten  days  old  had  her  attention  arrested  by  the  con- 
trasted colors  of  her  mother's  dress.  She  seemed  pleased 
and  smiled.  A  boy  twenty -three  days  old  was  pleased 
with  a  brightly  colored  curtain.  Another  child  in  his 
second  month  took  notice  of  the  difference  between  bright 
colors  and  quiet  ones,  and  showed  his  preference  for  the 
former  by  smiles.  Another,  towards  the  end  of  his  second 
month,  was  attracted  by  white,  blue  and  violet,  other  colors 
being  indifferent.  A  girl  of  three  months  and  a  boy  of  five 
months  seemed  pleased  with  some  drawings  of  a  uniformly 
gray  color,  while  Genzmer's  boy  for  the  first  four  months 
of  his  life  seemed  attracted  only  by  white  objects,  but  after 
that  time  he  began  to  show  a  preference  for  other  bright 
colors,  especially  red.  Raehlmann  found  no  distinction  of 
similar  objects  differently  colored  until  a  good  while  after 
the  fifth  week.     Sometimes  a  strange  antipathy  to  certain 


THE   SENSES  13 

colors  is  manifested.     In  several  cases  children  have  refused 
to  go  to  anybody  dressed  in  black. 

Experiments  in  color  discrimination,  which  involve  the 
use  of  words,  may  be  carried  on  in  two  ways.  A  color  may 
be  named  and  the  child  required  to  pick  that  color  out  of 
several ;  or  the  color  may  be  shown  him,  and  he  required 
to  name  it.  Preyer  used  both  methods,  with  the  following 
results:  In  the  twentieth  month  repeated  trials  yielded 
absolutely  no  result,  but  in  the  beginning  of  the  child's 
third  year,  the  first  correct  responses  were  obtained,  the 
result  being  eleven  right  answers  and  six  wrong  ones.  In 
this  case  he  used  two  colors,  red  and  green.  Then  yellow 
was  added,  and  at  once  took  its  place  as  the  color  most 
readily  perceived  (26th  month).  The  percentages  of  right 
answers  were :  Yellow  82,  green  77,  red  72.  Blue  was  then 
added,  with  the  following  result :  Yellow  94,  green  79,  red 
70,  blue  69.  Trials  made  a  week  later  with  five  colors 
resulted  as  follows:  Yellow  100,  violet  92,  green  90,  red  83, 
blue  42.  Then,  with  six  colors :  Yellow  96,  violet  95,  red 
84,  gray  83,  green  74,  blue  67  (26th  and  27th  months). 
Finally,  two  weeks  later,  trial  was  made  with  nine  colors, 
resulting  as  follows  :  Yellow,  gray,  brown,  and  black  100, 
red  94,  violet  85,  green  36,  rose  33,  blue  23.  Preyer  carried 
these  experiments  a  good  deal  further,  and  varied  the 
method,  but  with  substantially  the  same  results.  The  sum- 
mary of  all  his  tests  up  to  the  34th  month  gives  the  follow- 
ing order  of  preferences  :  Yellow,  brown,  red,  violet,  black, 
rose,  orange,  gray,  green,  blue.  When  yellow  and  red  were 
removed,  the  child  showed  less  interest.  Blue  and  green 
were  avoided,  and  mostly  named  wrong,  green  being  often 
called  "garnix"  ("gar  nichts'1  =  "nothing  at  all  "). 

Binet  made  a  number  of  experiments  with  a  little  girl 
from  the  32nd  to  the  40th  month,  with  results  which  I  may 
epitomize  as  follows: 


14  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

1st  series :  Eed  100,  green  61,  yellow  52. 

2nd  series :  Red  100,  blue  92,  maroon  and  rose  89,  violet 
75,  green  71,  white  62,  yellow  38. 

In  these  experiments,  the  child  was  required  to  point  out 
the  color  named  to  her.  The  method  was  now  reversed, 
and  the  child  required  to  name  the  color  pointed  out  to  her. 
The  result  was  as  follows  : 

1st  series  :  Red  100,  yellow  0. 

2nd  series :  Blue  100,  red  96,  green  82,  rose  57,  violet  54, 
maroon  50,  white  45,  yellow  28.  (M.  Binet  says  every  time 
an  error  is  committed  with  yellow,  it  consists  in  confound- 
ing it  with  green.  He  noticed  also  that  violet  was  con- 
founded with  blue.) 

Some  remarkable  differences  may  be  noticed  between  the 
results  of  these  two  observers.  For  example,  in  the  percep- 
tion of  yellow  :  while  Preyer's  child  perceived  this  color 
better  than  any  other,  Binet's  little  girl  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  with  it.  Also  as  regards  blue :  in  the  one  case 
this  color  stands  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  list,  while  in  the 
other  it  is  almost  at  the  top.  Miss  Shinn,  who  observed  her 
little  niece,  found  that,  while  all  the  principal  colors  were 
easily  distinguished  by  the  end  of  the  third  quarter  of  the 
second  year,  the  child  had  more  difficulty  with  red  than 
with  any  of  the  others.  On  the  whole,  however,  the 
greatest  uniformity  obtains  in  the  case  of  bright  and  glaring 
colors,  such  as  red.  This  may  have  a  physiological  basis  in 
the  fact  that  when  the  eyes  are  closed  in  a  bright  light,  red 
is  the  only  color  visible. 

In  the  foregoing  experiments  the  child  must  know  the 
names  of  the  colors  before  the  tests  can  be  made ;  and  we 
can  never  be  certain  that  the  mistakes  committed  do  not 
arise  from  confusion  of  words  rather  than  of  colors.  On 
this  account,  the  following  tests  made  by  Binet  seem  to  me 
of  far  greater  value.     Instead  of  the  "  methode  d'appella- 


THE   SENSES  15 

tion,"  as  he  calls  the  system  just  explained,  he  adopted  here 
the  "  methode  de  reconnaissance,"  which  consists  in  show- 
ing the  child  a  counter  of  a  certain  color,  then  shuttling  it 
together  with  a  number  of  counters  of  that  color  and  others, 
and  requiring  him  to  pick  out  a  counter  of  that  color.  In 
this  way  the  name  is  not  used  at  all,  and  the  test  proceeds 
purely  on  the  recognition  of  color.  The  results  by  this 
method  were  much  more  satisfactory.  With  three  colors 
—  red,  green,  and  yellow  —  no  mistakes  were  made  ;  and 
even  with  seven  colors,  and  with  an  interval  of  time  between 
the  perception  and  the  recognition,  the  errors  were  very  few 
indeed.  This  seems  to  show  that  the  child's  chief  difficulty 
is  not  in  recognition  of  the  color,  but  in  association  of  the 
color  with  the  sound  of  its  name. 

The  Color  Sense  in  School  Children. — The  great  prac- 
tical significance  of  the  investigations  into  this  subject  war- 
rants us  in  giving  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  it.  Wolfe 
made  experiments  in  color  discrimination,  on  the  school 
children  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and  reached  the  following 
results  :  White,  black,  and  red  were  nearly  always  correctly 
named.  Then,  in  the  order  of  correct  naming,  came  blue, 
yellow,  green,  pink,  orange,  and  violet.  Garbini  tested  six 
hundred  Italian  school  children,  in  the  sixth  year  of  their 
age,  and  found  that  only  35  per  cent  were  able  cor- 
rectly to  designate  the  six  colors  named  above.  Ziehen, 
experimenting  with  the  boys  of  the  normal  school  at  Jena, 
used  the  colors  red,  yellow,  green,  blue,  white,  black,  gray, 
and  brown.  He  found  that  gray,  green,  and  brown  were 
named  Avrong  or  not  at  all.  Lobsien  made  investigations 
on  a  number  of  girls  from  eight  to  fourteen  years  of  age, 
with  the  seven  prismatic  colors.  Dividing  the  pupils  into 
six  classes,  according  to  age,  he  had  them  write  down  the 
names  of  the  colors.  The  following  table  shows  the  results, 
in  percentages  of  errors : 


16 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 


Class 

Age 

Red 

Yellow 

Orange 

Blue 

Violet 

Indigo 

Green 

1 

13-14 

0 

0 

66 

0 

31 

77 

0 

2 

12 

0 

0 

78 

0 

44 

94 

0 

3 

11 

0 

2 

80 

0 

16 

44 

2 

4 

10 

0 

0 

08 

0 

67 

95 

5 

6 

9 

0 

2 

96 

2 

77 

98 

11 

6 

8 

0 

19 

100 

0 

100 

100 

20 

Red  stands  first,  being  correctly  named  in  every  case; 
then  follows  blue ;  yellow  and  green  were  less  certainly 
known  ;  violet,  orange,  and  indigo  were  misnamed  most  fre- 
quently, the  girls  of  eight  being  entirely  unable  to  name 
these  colors. 

Engelsperger  and  Ziegler  carried  out  a  thorough  investi- 
gation on  the  color  sense  of  two  hundred  school  children,  of 
both  sexes,  in  Munich.  In  order  to  test  the  ability  of  the 
child  just  entering  school  to  distinguish  colors,  they  used 
what  they  called  the  covering  method  (Deckungsmethode). 
They  prepared  small  squares  of  colored  paper,  two  for  each 
of  the  colors  used.  The  child  was  to  lay  one  upon  the  other 
the  papers  that  were  of  the  same  color.  The  experiments 
showed  how  different  is  the  accuracy  of  discrimination  in 
regard  to  the  different  individual  colors.  White  and  black 
were  quickly  and  surely  recognized  by  all  the  children. 
Next  to  these  came  orange,  lilac-purple,  and  rose.  Still  less 
accurately  known  were  violet,  light  and  dark  blue,  and 
blue-green.  But  orange,  rose,  and  violet  are  among  the 
colors  with  whose  names  the  children  are  least  familiar.  Of 
the  boys,  only  .36  per  cent,  of  the  girls  49  per  cent,  matched 
all  the  colors  without  error,  an  evidence  of  the  superior 
color  discrimination  of  the  girls. 


THE   SENSES 


17 


In  order  to  test  the  ability  of  children  just  entering 
school  to  use  color  names  for  the  color  sensations,  Engel- 
sperger  and  Ziegler  employed  also  the  naming  method,  with 
the  following  results : 


100 

}OY8 

100  Giki.s 

Colors 

Correctly- 
Named 

Incorrectly 

Named 

Correctly 
Named 

I  n<  orreotly 
Named 

Black 

99 

1 

98 

2 

White 

99 

1 

98 

2 

88 

12 

91 

9 

Bright  red 

82 

18 

86 

14 

86 

14 

89 

11 

83 

17 

90 

10 

Dark  green 

77 

23 

86 

14 

Bright  green 

79 

21 

84 

16 

Dark  yellow 

72 

28 

79 

21 

Bright  yellow      .... 

68 

32 

78 

22 

Dark  brown 

66 

44 

59 

41 

Bright  brown      .... 

54 

46 

66 

34 

47 

53 

58 

42 

Bright  gray 

49 

51 

63 

37 

22 

78 

42 

58 

Violet 

3 

97 

4 

96 

— 

— 

5 

95 

This  table  shows  not  only  the  order  in  which  the  colors  be- 
come known,  but  also  the  superiority  of  the  girls  over  the 
boys  in  color  discrimination. 

Investigations  on  the  color  sense  of  American,  Italian, 
and  German  school  children  show  in  general  a  uniform  in- 
sufficient to  warrant  some  pedagogical  inferences.  First  of 
all,  the  fact  must  be  recognized  that  a  considerable  number 
of  children  just  entering  school  cannot  name  correctly  the 


18  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

principal  colors,  red,  blue,  yellow,  and  green.  School  instruc- 
tion, then,  must  take  into  account  this  defective  color  knowl- 
edge. The  opportunity  often  presents  itself  of  exercising 
the  children  in  the  discrimination  and  naming  of  colors. 
The  modern  drawing  lesson,  in  which  the  element  of  color 
plays  a  prominent  part,  may  contribute  much  to  the  educa- 
tion of  the  color  sense.  Again,  in  the  teaching  of  geography 
and  natural  history,  the  knowledge  of  colors  may  be  fur- 
thered in  connection  with  the  schematic  drawings  which  are 
made  by  the  teacher,  with  colored  crayon,  and  by  the  pupils 
with  colored  pencil.  Let  the  development  of  the  color 
sense  be  neglected,  and  ignorance  of  colors  will  continue 
even  into  mature  years.  My  own  experience  agrees  with 
that  of  Virchow,  who  found  it  necessary  every  session  to 
urge  upon  university  students  regular  practical  exercises 
with  colors,  as  the  majority  of  them  were  not  able  to  desig- 
nate with  certainty  the  finer  shades  of  the  commonest  colors. 
I  have  observed  not  only  in  the  lower,  but  also  in  the  higher 
courses  of  our  teacher-training  schools  a  great  uncertainty 
in  the  naming  of  colors. 

Color  Blindness.  —  This  must  be  distinguished  from 
that  ignorance  of  colors  already  referred  to.  The  latter 
arises  from  lack  of  practice  ;  the  former  is  an  inborn  and 
incurable  condition.  Color  blindness  consists  in  the  inca- 
pacity to  perceive  colors  normally  and  correctly.  Its  most 
frequent  form  is  that  in  which  red  and  green  appear  as  yel- 
low. Investigations  on  color  blindness  in  school  children 
have  already  been  carried  out  in  different  countries.  Tests 
made  in  1879  on  nearly  thirty  thousand  pupils  in  the  vari- 
ous schools  of  the  city  of  Boston  showed  that,  of  the  boys, 
four  in  every  hundred  were  in  some  measure  color  blind, 
while  among  the  girls  the  proportion  was  less  than  one  in  a 
thousand.     Holmgrene,  observing  Swedish  children,  found 


THE   SENSES  19 

from  3  to  4  per  cent  color  blind ;  Hansen,  in  Denmark, 
2.6  per  cent;  Cohn,  in  Breslau,  4  per  cent;  and  Schu- 
bert, in  Nuremberg,  2.1  per  cent.  Engelsperger  and  Zieg- 
ler,  among  two  hundred  school  children  in  Munich,  found 
no  case  of  color  blindness.  All  investigations  agree  in 
showing  that  disorders  of  the  color  sense  are  much  more 
common  among  boys  than  among  girls. 

Objective  Interpretation.  —  The  understanding  of  the 
meaning  of  the  visual  sensation  is  the  slowest  in  develop- 
ment of  all  the  faculties  connected  with  the  eye.  The  sub- 
ject belongs  indeed  properly  under  the  head  of  Perception 
and  Judgment,  and  little  need  be  said  upon  it  here. 

To  comprehend  the  distance  and  form  of  an  object  is  an 
advance  on  the  rudimentary  "  seeing  "  of  the  object;  but  to 
understand  what  the  object  is,  so  as  to  distinguish  it  from 
other  objects,  and  be  conscious  of  a  relation  between  it  and 
the  perceiving  subject,  constitutes  a  still  further  advance. 
The  child  attains  this  further  advance  slowly  and  painfully, 
at  the  cost  of  many  tumbles  and  scratches,  the  result  of 
errors  in  judgment  that  are  sometimes  pitiable,  often  comi- 
cal. Feeling  and  instinct  render  great  service  at  this  time, 
and  often  lead  the  child  to  do  things  which,  on  a  casual 
view,  might  too  readily  be  interpreted  as  the  work  of  judg- 
ment ;  as  in  the  case  of  the  child  of  less  than  a  month  who 
made  a  wry  face  at  the  sight  of  some  bitter  medicine. 

The  first  object  to  be  recognized  is  usually  the  mother's 
face,  which  is  greeted  with  a  smile  of  pleasure  by  children 
only  a  few  weeks  old.  But  this  first  recognition  is  very 
vague  and  inaccurate,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  infant 
"  recognizes  "  in  the  same  way,  at  first,  any  other  face  which 
resembles  hers  in  broad  outlines ;  and  that  when  recognition 
of  the  father's  face  takes  place,  the  child  bestows  his  smile 
of  welcome  also  on  any  other  bearded  gentleman  who  hap- 


20  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF    CHILDHOOD 

pens  to  come  within  his  range  of  vision.  For  a  long  time, 
objects  are  not  grasped  as  comprehensive  wholes,  but  rather 
some  striking  feature  is  apprehended,  and  all  else  left  out 
of  account.  Hence  arise  some  of  the  very  peculiar  associa- 
tion groupings,  which  we  shall  notice  in  connection  with 
language.  From  about  the  sixth  month,  however,  evidences 
of  intelligent  comprehension  of  many  of  the  more  common 
objects  may  be  observed.  The  smile  or  nod  of  the  parents 
is  distinguished  from  that  of  strangers,  and  responded  to 
in  a  different  manner.  Visual  impressions  connected  with 
food  and  clothing  are  quickly  and  surely  recognized.  Yet 
even  much  later  than  this,  many  mistakes  are  made.  The 
child  of  a  year  and  a  half  will  try  to  pick  up  a  sunbeam 
from  the  floor,  to  grasp  his  own  reflection  in  the  mirror,  to 
pull  a  stream  of  water  flowing  from  a  sponge^  as  though  it 
were  a  string.  Even  at  the  close  of  his  second  year,  pic- 
torial representation  is  a  great  mystery  to  him,  and  he  pre- 
fers the  reality.  Sigismund's  boy,  at  two  years,  called  a 
circle  "  plate,"  a  square  "  bonbon,"  and  his  father's  shadow 
"  papa" ;  and  Preyer's  boy,  much  later  than  this,  called  a 
square  "  window,"  a  triangle  "  roof,"  a  circle  "  ring,"  and 
several  dots  on  the  paper  "  little  birds."  Pollock  tells  of  a 
girl  nearly  two  years  old,  who,  on  seeing  a  row  of  dots  on  a 
printed  page,  thus  .  .  .  .  ,  cried  out,  "  Oh,  pins,"  and  made 
repeated  attempts  to  pick  them  out;  and  the  girl  F.  was 
observed  one  day  trying  to  "  pick  up "  her  father's  white 
protruding  cuff  from  what  she  supposed  was  the  underlying 
coat-sleeve,  as  she  attempted  to  grasp  the  cuff  from  that 
side,  and  seemed  much  surprised  at  her  failure. 

Illusions  and  Hallucinations  of  the  Sense  of  Sight. 
—  The  childish  errors  just  described  are  normal,  and  dis- 
appear with  the  progress  of  mental  development.  But  there 
may  appear  also  in  children  sense  illusions  which  are  ab- 


THE   SENSES  21 

normal,  and  depend  upon  an  intensified  irritability  of  the 
sense-areas  of  the  cerebrum.  In  this  pathological  condition, 
either  actual  sensations  are  transformed  and  so  illusions 
arise,  or  there  are  sensations  not  called  forth  directly  by 
real  external  sense-impressions,  in  which  case  we  speak  of 
hallucinations.  We  find  Bight-illusion,  for  example,  in  the 
case  of  a  girl  in  her  seventh  year,  observed  by  Berner,  who 
saw  various  unclean  things  in  food  that  was  perfectly  pure, 
and  so  refused  to  eat  it.  We  find  sight-hallucinations  in 
the  seven-year-old  girl  observed  by  Ziehen,  who,  in  attacks 
of  illness,  often  saw  mice,  cats,  dogs,  and  various  other 
animals  where  none  really  existed.  Children  who  suffer 
from  illusions  and  hallucinations  generally  find  it  difficult 
or  impossible  to  realize  the  deceptive  nature  of  the  presenta- 
tion. Both  kinds  of  sense  perception  frequently  appear  in 
childhood,  and  they  are  especially  likely  to  show  themselves 
when  the  child  is  suffering  from  disease  or  extreme  fatigue. 
The  part  they  play  in  hysteria,  epilepsy,  and  paranoia  will 
be  further  described  in  the  seventh  chapter. 

II.   Hearing 

The  importance  of  hearing  as  a  knowledge-giving  sense 
would  be  difficult  to  overestimate.  Besides  being  the  chan- 
nel of  a  large  part  of  our  knowledge,  and  the  medium  of  a 
vast  amount  of  refined  pleasure,  the  sense  of  hearing  plays 
so  large  a  role  in  the  acquisition  of  language  that  a  child 
who  is  perfectly  deaf  from  birth  does  not  learn  to  speak. 

Hearing  in  the  New-born.  —  Czerney,  in  his  experi- 
ments as  to  the  comparative  soundness  of  sleep  at  di  tit  nut 
times,  was  unable  to  use  a  sound  stimulus  with  new-born 
children  as  he  did  with  adults,  because  of  their  failure  to 
react  to  sound-impressions;  he  was  obliged,  in  their  case, 


22  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD 

to  resort  to  electrical  stimulation.  Kroner  assured  himself 
by  many  experiments  that  the  child,  in  the  first  week  of 
his  life,  reacts  distinctly  to  strong  sound-impressions,  and 
the  very  careful  experiments  of  Moldenhauer  confirm  this 
conclusion.  Mrs.  Talbot  says  of  one  child  that  he  was  sen- 
sible to  sound  three  hours  after  his  birth.  Sigismund  saw 
the  first  evidences  of  hearing  much  later.1  Champneys 
could  not  elicit  any  response  —  by  starting  or  otherwise  — 
during  the  first  week,  to  any  noise,  however  loud,  unless 
accompanied  by  vibration  other  than  air-vibration.  Kuss- 
niaul  utterly  failed  to  produce  any  impression  in  the  first 
days,  no  matter  how  loud  or  discordant  the  noise.  He  be- 
lieves hearing  sleeps  most  deeply  of  all  the  senses.  But  he 
quotes  Herr  Feldsbausch,  to  show  that  there  was  hearing  in 
many  cases  from  the  third  day.  Genzmer  found  that  almost 
all  the  children  on  whom  he  experimented,  on  the  first  day, 
or  certainly  on  the  second,  reacted  to  impressions  of  sound ; 
but  the  reaction  was  unequal  in  different  children.  Dr. 
Deneke  found  one  child  of  six  hours  who  started  and 
closed  his  eyes  tighter  at  the  sound  of  two  metallic  covers 
striking  together;  while  Preyer  observed  one  who  did  not 
react  at  all  on  the  third  day,  and  another  who,  on  the  sixth 
day,  reacted  only  very  slightly.  Sully  noticed,  on  the  second 
day,  a  distinct  movement  of  the  head  in  response  to  sound, 
and  this  is  confirmed  by  Professor  Baldwin.  Burdach  de- 
clares the  child  hears  nothing  during  the  first  week. 

On  these  the  following  observations  are  in  place,  and  may 
help  to  the  understanding  of  the  discrepancies : 

(1)  There  is  unanimity  on  one  point:  No  one  has  suc- 
ceeded in  proving  that  any  child  hears  anything  during  the 

1  "Nach  einigen  (drei  bis  acht)  Wochen  sieht  man  das  Kind  bei  pliitz- 
lichem  Geriiusche  zusammenfahren.  Da  erkennt  mann  klar,  dass  jetzt 
auch  fur  die  wahrnebinende  Seele,  das  Hephata  !  gesprochen  ist."  "  Kind 
und  Welt,"  p.  27. 


THE   SENSES  23 

first  hours.  This  corresponds  to  the  physiological  facts  that 
the  eustachian  tube  is  not  permeable,  nor  does  air  find  its 
way  into  the  middle  ear  until  some  little  time  after  respira- 
tion has  begun.  Lesser's  experiments  show  that  the  foetal 
conditions  of  the  middle  ear  may  indeed  persist  in  the  pre- 
maturely born  more  than  twenty  hours. 

(2)  Starting  in  response  to  a  loud  noise  may  often  be 
caused'  by  vibrations  which  affect  the  whole  body,  and  act 
as  a  nervous  shock.  Children  are  known  to  start  on  the 
slamming  of  a  door,  when  they  make  no  such  response  to  a 
voice,  however  loud.  No  doubt,  in  the  first  case,  the  child 
feels  the  jar  rather  than  hears  the  noise. 

(3)  Any  further  discrepancies  not  resolved  by  these  two 
considerations  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  differences  in 
maturity  of  different  children  at  birth,  and  the  varying 
rapidity  with  which  the  physiological  adjustments  are  com- 
pleted. Generalizing,  we  may  say  that  the  period  of  begin- 
ning to  hear  varies,  according  to  these  circumstances,  from 
the  sixth  hour  to  the  third  week.  If,  in  the  fourth  week,  a 
healthy,  normal  child  makes  no  response  to  a  loud  sound 
behind  him,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  he  will  be  deaf  and 
dumb. 

As  regards  localization  of  sounds,  the  ear  does  not  render 
very  much  service  in  this,  on  account  of  its  comparative 
immobility.  Even  in  the  adult,  a  sound  made  in  the  room 
above  is  with  great  difficulty  distinguished  from  a  sound 
made  in  the  room  below,  unless  some  other  circumstance 
enter  in  to  assist  in  the  determination. 

Champneys'  child,  on  the  fourteenth  day,  turned  his  head 
in  the  direction  of  his  mother's  voice,  but  this  was  probably 
due  as  much  to  feeling  her  breath  upon  his  cheek  as  to 
hearing,  since  he  did  not  do  it  when  her  face  was  turned  in 
another  direction.  Leaving  this  observation,  then,  out  of 
account,  I  find  that  the  period  in  which  children  are  first 


24  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

observed  to  turn  the  head  in  the  direction  of  sounds,  extends 
from  the  tenth  week  to  the  seventeenth  week.  One  child 
sometimes  turned  towards  a  sound  in  the  sixteenth  week. 
Another,  at  four  months  and  ten  days,  "  always  turned  his 
head  exactly  in  the  right  direction."  A  third  turned  his  head 
towards  a  sound  for  the  first  time  in  the  eleventh  week,  and 
by  the  sixteenth  week  this  movement  had  assumed  all  the 
certainty  of  a  reflex,  and  still  another,  when  five  months 
old,  on  hearing  the  rumbling  of  the  cars  in  the  street,  knew 
to  which  window  to  go  to  look  for  them.  Schultze  ob- 
served that  active  hearing,  with  attention,  began  after  the 
first  half-year.  Not  only  are  there  these  differences  among 
different  children,  but  in  the  same  child  the  accuracy  of 
localization  becomes  greater  by  exercise.  The  differences 
in  time,  noted  above,  are  doubtless  in  part  due  to  variations 
in  the  rapidity  of  the  physiological  development  of  the 
ear. 

By  the  end  of  the  fourth  month  the  normal  child  has 
made  considerable  progress  in  the  understanding  of  the 
meaning  of  sounds,  i.e.,  in  the  interpretation  of  sounds  by 
their  timbre.  I  find  here  also  great  differences  in  the 
results  of  the  observations.  Tiedemann's  son  took  notice 
of  gestures  on  the  thirteenth  day.  Words  would  stop  his 
tears  or  call  them  forth,  according  to  the  tone  in  which  they 
were  uttered.  Another  child,  sixteen  days  old,  would  some- 
times leave  off  crying  when  his  mother  spoke  soothingly  to 
him  At  two  months  he  distinguished  between  the  loud 
bark  of  a  dog  and  a  coaxing  yelp,  being  frightened  by  the 
former,  but  quickly  soothed  by  the  latter.  A  girl  of  three 
and  a  half  months  "knows  when  she  is  being  scolded." 
On  the  other  hand,  out  of  one  hundred  children  observed, 
Dr.  Demme  found  only  two  who,  at  three  and  a  half 
months,  knew  their  parents'  voices.  Another  observer  re- 
ports that  at  two  months  there  was  no  apparent  appreciation 


THE   SENSES  25 

of  ordinary  sounds,  but  children  of  four  and  a  half  months 
sometimes  recognized  a  voice. 

These  differences  are,  no  doubt,  to  some  extent,  due  to 
heredity,  and  to  some  extent  produced  artificially  in  the 
life  of  the  individual  by  exercise.  The  average  child  appar- 
ently begins  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  tones  from  the 
second  to  the  fourth  month. 

A  very  interesting  point  in  connection  with  the  subject 
of  the  child's  hearing  is  his  poiver  to  appreciate  music.  So 
intimately  associated  is  it  with  the  development  of  his 
aesthetic  nature,  that  it  deserves  the  careful  study  of  the 
psychologist  and  the  educator. 

There  are  two  chief  sources  of  pleasure  in  music:  the 
rhythmical  movement  and  the  melody  —  the  time  and  the 
tune.  With  regard  to  the  first,  it  seems  safe  to  say  that 
no  healthy,  normal  child,  after  the  first  few  weeks,  fails  to 
appreciate  rhythmical  movements.  The  fretful  infant  may 
be  soothed  by  the  gentle,  regular  movements  of  the  mother. 
These  first  musical  impressions  have  a  physiological  explana- 
tion. There  seems  almost  to  be  a  sense  of  rhythm.  The 
succession  of  notes  produces  a  flow  of  blood  to  the  brain, 
and  its  energetic  excitation  redounds  in  lively  sentiments 
and  animated  movements.  Thus  music  responds  to  that 
need  of  muscular  activity  so  strong  in  the  child.  The  social 
instinct  also  enters  here :  the  child  takes  more  delight  in 
noise  and  movement  when  some  one  is  at  hand  to  participate. 

As  Konig  has  shown,  however,  it  is  only  the  most  element- 
ary rhythmical  forms  (principally  the  dual  movement,  as 
found  in  the  march)  for  which  there  is  any  innate  liking. 
For  the  more  complicated  rhythmical  movements  but  little 
appreciation  is  to  be  looked  for  even  among  older  children. 
The  triple  rhythm  is  found  first  in  those  child  songs  that 
bear  the  marks  of  adult  workmanship. 

With  regard  to  the  second  point,  the  opinion  may  safely 


26  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OP   CHILDHOOD 

be  ventured  that  no  healthy,  normal  child  is  entirely  lacking 
in  musical  "  ear."     I  find  no  record  of  any  child,  who  has 
been  carefully  observed,  being  utterly  deficient  in  apprecia- 
tion of  musical  harmonies.     In  the  vast  majority  of  cases 
the  opposite  is  the  case.     Children  almost  always,  from  a 
very  early  age,  show  a  lively  interest  in  music.     In  one 
observed  case,  a  child  of  one  month  manifested  delight  in 
singing  and  playing.     Sometimes  children  only  two  weeks 
old  have  been  observed  to  stop  the  motions  of  their  limbs, 
and  apparently  listen,  when  a  piano  was  played  in  another 
room.     From  six  or  seven  weeks  onward,  and  especially 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  first  year,  the  child's  pleasure  in 
music  is  often  shown  by  a  sort  of  accompanying  muscular 
movements,  which  he  seems  unable  to  repress.     The  mother's 
song  of  lullaby  is  keenly  appreciated,  and  somewhat  later 
is  even  given  back  by  the  child  in  a  most  charming  infant 
warble.     The  emotional  element  in  the  music  is  often  keenly 
distinguished.     Dr.  Brown  says  of  one  of  the  infants  ob- 
served by  her  in  New  York  city,  that  when  only  five  and  a 
half  months  old,  he  would  cry  when  his  mother  played  a 
plaintive  air;  but  would  stop  at  once,  and  begin  to  jump 
and  toss  his  arms  about   and  laugh,  if  she  struck  into  a 
lively  melody.     There  seems  to  be,  as  some  one  has  said,  a 
sympathy  between   the  ear  and  the  voice  which  antedates 
all  experience,  and  which  is  even  to  a  large  extent  indepen- 
dent of  normal  brain-endowment.     Even   idiotic   children 
(provided  they  are  not   deaf)  who   can  speak  only  a  few 
simple  words  and  syllables,  are  able  to  sing,  and  in  singing 
they  employ  other  words  besides  those  generally  at  their 
command.     While  all  this  is  true,  it  should  also  be  remem- 
bered that  the  child's  cerebral  and  mental  endowment  is 
exceedingly  plastic,  and  that  consequently  sounds  which  at 
first  were  disagreeable  to  him  soon  became  tolerable  and  even 
pleasant.     He  accommodates  himself  to  all  sorts  of  noises 


THE   SENSES  27 

with  far  greater  facility  than  the  adult,  and  soon  comes  to 
take  great  delight  in  any  sort  of  rude,  banging,  grating 
sounds,  especially  if  they  are  his  own  production.  Hence 
there  is  no  sense  in  the  education  of  which  greater  care 
should  be  taken  than  the  sense  of  hearing.  As  already 
said,  probably  all  normal  children  are  born  with  a  capacity 
for  musical  appreciation,  though  of  course  not  all  in  the 
same  degree.  Now  in  the  early  period — during  the  first 
four  or  five  years  of  life  —  it  is  very  easy  to  cultivate  this 
musical  capacity  or  to  destroy  it.  If  the  child  hears,  every 
day,  rasping,  grating,  and  discordant  noises,  he  will  come 
very  soon  to  like  these  as  well  as  the  most  harmonious.  It 
lies  within  the  power  of  parents  and  teachers  so  to  cultivate 
the  child's  capacity  in  this  respect  as  to  minister  in  an 
incalculable  degree  to  the  happiness  of  his  life  and  the 
purity  of  his  character. 

III.   Touch 

Touch  has  been  called  the  universal  sense,  because,  while 
sight,  hearing,  etc.,  have  each  a  special,  local  end-organ, 
touch  has  its  end-organs  in  every  part  of  the  body,  number- 
less nerves  of  this  sense  communicating  with  the  brain  from 
every  portion  of  the  skin.  The  importance  of  the  touch- 
sense  is,  therefore,  obvious.  Some  have  gone  so  far  as  to 
call  it  the  fundamental  sense,  and  have  endeavored  to  reduce 
all  the  others  to  it.  Without  going  this  far,  we  may 
readily  recognize  its  importance  in  the  mental  development 
of  the  child,  from  recorded  .cases  of  children  who,  from  birth 
or  from  an  early  age,  have  been  deprived  of  the  other  senses, 
or  the  most  important  of  them,  and  who  have,  nevertheless, 
almost  by  touch  alone,  reached  a  remarkable  degree  of 
intellectual  and  moral  attainment.  The  field  of  the  present 
inquiry  is  covered  by  two  questions : 


28  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD 

(1)  As  to  the  comparative  delicacy  of  different  parts  of  the 
body.     (2)  As  to  the  education  of  touch  perception. 

(1)  Differences  in  sensibility  to  touch  impressions  among 
the  different  parts  of  the  body  are  not  so  great  at  first  as 
they  afterwards  become.  From  birth  onward,  the  surround- 
ing medium  becomes  more  and  more  varied,  so  that  those 
parts  of  the  body  which  are  exposed  to  contact  with  the 
external  world  become  relatively  blunted  in  delicacy,  while 
those  which  continue  to  be  more  or  less  protected  —  such  as 
the  eye  and  the  tongue  —  retain  more  nearly  their  original 
sensitiveness.  Nevertheless,  the  differences  in  delicacy 
among  the  different  parts  at  the  very  first  are  surprisingly 
great. 

The  upper  surface  of  the  tongue  is  exceedingly  sensitive. 
Kussmaul  introduced  a  small  glass  rod  into  the  mouths  of 
children  just  born,  eliciting  prompt  responsive  movements, 
which  varied  in  character  according  to  the  part  touched. 
When  the  rod  touched  the  tongue  near  the  tip,  the  lips  at 
once  protruded,  the  sides  of  the  tongue  curled  up  around  the 
rod,  and  sucking  movements  followed.  When  the  rod  came 
into  contact  with  the  back  part  of  the  tongue  near  the  root, 
all  the  responsive  movements  —  expression  of  face,  mouth 
motions,  etc.  —  indicated  "  nausea."  (Similar  results  were 
obtained  by  Kroner  and  Genzmer.)  No  doubt  we  have  here 
a  sensori-motor  reflex  established  before  birth.  The  same 
is  true  in  the  case  of  the  lips,  which  share  with  the  tongue 
an  extreme  delicacy  from  the  first.  Even  the  lightest  touch 
of  a  feather  produced  sucking  movements  of  the  lips  on  the 
sixth  day,  and  gentle  stroking  of  the  lips  produced  the 
same  result  on  the  fifth  day,  and  even  on  the  first  day. 

One  of  the  most  sensitive  parts  of  the  body  to  touch 
impressions  is  the  mucous  membrane  which  lines  the  nostrils. 
This  was  observed  to  be  sensitive  on  the  first  day  of  the 
child's  life.    According  to  Kussmaul,  "  Tickling  of  the  inner 


THE   SENSES  29 

surfaces  of  the  wings  of  the  nose  with  a  feather  calls  from 
children  first  of  all  winking  of  the  eyelids,  stronger  and 
earlier  on  the  tickled  side  than  on  the  other;  if  the  irritation 
be  increased,  the  child  not  only  knits  the  eyebrows,  but 
moves  the  head  and  the  hands,  which  latter  it  carries  to  the 
face."  It  appears,  however,  from  the  observations  of  the 
same  authority,  that  this  sensitiveness  of  the  mucous  mem- 
brane is  formed  only  towards  the  end  of  the  period  of 
gestation,  since  similar  experiments  made  on  children 
born  in  the  seventh  month  were  without  result. 

Certainly  next  in  order  of  delicacy  —  if  indeed  they  should 
not  have  been  placed  earlier — come  the  various  parts  of 
the  eye:  the  lashes,  the  conjunctiva  and  the  cornea.  Of 
these  three,  the  lashes  are  considered  by  Kussmaul  and 
Kroner  the  most  sensitive  to  touch  impressions.  The  former 
says  :  "  The  eyelashes  are  extraordinarily  sensitive  to  even 
the  faintest  disturbances.  If  the  child,  when  awake,  has 
the  eyes  open,  one  can  press  with  a  glass  rod  even  to  the 
cornea  before  it  will  close  the  eyes ;  but  should  only  one  of 
the  little  lashes  be  disturbed  in  the  least,  this  closing  of 
the  eyes  will  take  place  at  once.  The  disturbance  of  the 
eyelids  is  not  so  efficacious  by  far ;  it  will  by  no  means  be 
answered  every  time  by  eye-winking,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
cilia."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  if  one  should  blow  through 
a  small  tube  of  twisted  paper  upon  the  face  of  an  infant, 
winking  will  take  place  only  when  the  stream  of  air  has 
disturbed  one  of  the  cilia.  Genzmer  and  Preyer  differ  from 
Kussmaul  here,  holding  that  the  cornea  is  more  sensitive 
than  the  lashes.  These  facts  are  interesting  as  bearing  on 
the  question  of  priority  between  sight  and  touch  in  the  eye. 
It  has  been  frequently  noticed  that  the  child  does  not  for  a 
good  while  blink  when  a  finger  is  thrust  at  the  eye,  provided 
it  does  not  come  into  contact  with  it.  Touch-reflexes  seem, 
therefore,  to  be  developed  earlier  than  sight-reflexes. 


30  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

If  the  tip  of  the  nose  be  touched,  both  eyes  will  be  shut 
tight.  If  one  side  be  touched,  the  child  will  generally  close 
the  eye  on  that  side.  If  the  irritation  be  increased,  both 
eyes  will  be  closed  and  the  head  drawn  somewhat  back. 
This  is  an  inborn  defensive  reflex. 

If  one  tickles  the  palm  of  the  hand  of  a  new-born  child, 
the  fingers  will  close  around  the  object  with  which  it  was 
tickled.  The  skin  of  the  face  seems  even  more  sensitive 
still.  On  tickling  the  sole  of  the  foot,  active  reflex  move- 
ments follow,  such  as  bending  the  knees  and  hip-joints, 
curling  and  spreading  the  toes,  etc.  The  reaction  time  is 
longer,  however,  in  infants  than  in  adults,  sometimes 
amounting  to  two  seconds.  Slaps  also  are  more  effective 
than  pricks,  some  children  showing  comparative  indifference 
to  the  latter.  A  greater  number  of  nerve  ends  are  stimu- 
lated by  a  slap,  hence  the  more  speedy  reaction.  The 
greater  sensitiveness  of  the  adult  to  sense  impressions  in 
general  is  due  to  his  more  advanced  cerebral  development, 
and  not  to  any  superiority  in  cutaneous  or  nervous  adjust- 
ment. 

The  other  parts  of  the  body  are,  speaking  roughly,  sensi- 
tive to  touch  impressions  in  the  following  order :  The  audi- 
tory canal  (in  the  second  quarter  of  the  first  year,  the  child 
observed  by  Preyer  would  instantly  stop  crying  and  become 
very  quiet,  if  one's  little  finger  were  placed  gently  in  the 
ear  cavity),  forearm,  leg,  shoulder,  breast,  abdomen,  back, 
and  upper  part  of  thigh. 

(2)  The  susceptibility  of  the  sense  of  touch  to  education 
is  very  great,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  attainments  of  those 
who  are  born  blind,  the  proficiency  they  attain  in  reading  by 
touch,  etc.  As  a  knowledge-giving  sense,  it  stands  very  high, 
contributing  much  to  the  child's  first  knowledge  of  the  exter- 
nal world,  and,  together  with  sight  and  the  muscular  feel- 
ings, to  his  first  comprehension  of  space  and  time  relations. 


THE    SENSES  31 

It  aids  greatly  also  in  his  acquirement  of  the  notion  of  self 

—  this  probably  at  first  through  touching  some  portion  of  his 
own  body,  and  then  some  external  thing,  and  feeling  a  dif- 
ference between  the  resulting  sensations.  But  even  before 
active  touch  has  thus  begun,  the  foundations  of  the  child's 
education  are  laid  in  passive  touch  experiences,  which  from 
the  beginning  not  only  yield  him  pleasure  and  pain,  but,  be- 
ing more  frequent  as  well  as  more  varied  in  their  opera- 
tions, contribute  earlier  and  more  largely  than  any  of  the 
other  sense  experiences  to  the  development  of  his  faculties, 
and  to  his  gradual  acquaintanceship  with  the  world  of  objects 
by  which  he  is  surrounded.1 

IV.   Taste 

According  to  Sigismund,  taste  is  the  first  of  all  the  senses 
to  yield  clear  perceptions,  to  which  memory  is  attached. 
The  specially  early  development  of  this  sense  is  doubtless 
due  to  the  fact  that  its  exercise  is  from  the  beginning  con- 
nected in  the  closest  way  with  the  needs  of  the  child  and 
their  satisfaction. 

Numerous  careful  experiments  show  that  the  child  is  ca- 
pable of  bona  fide  sensations  of  taste  in  the  earliest  moments 
of  life;  and  that,  though  he  is  for  some  time  more  obtuse  and 
more  uncertain  in  this  respect  than  the  adult,  yet  when  a 
sapid  object  is  introduced  into  his  mouth,  the  resulting  sen- 
sation really  takes  place  by  way  of  the  gustatory  bulbs  and 
nerves,  and  is  not  merely  a  species  of  touch  sensation,  as 
some  have  held. 

Kussmaul  experimented  on  twenty  children,  during  the 
first  day  of  life  —  some  of  them  in  the  very  first  moments 

—  with  the  following  results :  Solutions  of  sugar  and  of  qui- 
nine being  introduced  into  the  mouth  by  means  of  a  hair 

'Ou  this  subject  see  Perez,  "Education  Morale  dcsleBerceau,"  Chap.V. 


32  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OP  CHILDHOOD 

pencil,  —  the  mixture  being  warmed  so  that  the  feeling  of 
temperature  should  not  affect  the  result,  —  the  children  re- 
sponded with  "the  same  mimetic  movements  which  we  desig- 
nate among  grown  people  as  the  facial  expressions  of  sweet 
and  bitter. "  They  responded  to  the  sugar  by  protruding  the 
lips  in  a  spout-like  form,  pressing  the  tongue  between  them, 
sucking  and  swallowing.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  quinine 
was  introduced,  the  visage  was  distorted,  the  eyes  closed,  the 
tongue  protruded,  and  choking  movements  were  made,  accom- 
panied by  the  expulsion  of  the  fluid  and  active  secretion  of 
saliva.  "Sometimes  the  head  was  actively  shaken,  as  in 
the  case  of  grown  people  when  attacked  by  nausea."  These 
results  were  obtained  also  in  premature  children,  showing 
that  this  reflex  arc  is  capable  of  performing  its  functions  be- 
fore birth.  He  adds,  however,  that  he  found  great  individ- 
ual differences  among  children,  some  being  far  less  responsive 
than  others.  Sometimes  also  the  children  seemed  to  make  a 
mistake  at  first,  as  they  occasionally  responded  to  sugar  by 
the  mimetic  movement  for  bitter,  but  this  was  probably  only 
surprise  at  the  new  sensation,  as  they  very  soon  changed  it 
for  the  correct  expression.  He  found  also  by  these  experi- 
ments that  only  the  tip  and  edges  of  the  tongue  represent 
the  tasting  compass,  the  middle  of  the  back  part  yielding 
no  sensations  of  taste. 

Genzmer,  experimenting  on  twenty-five  children,  most  of 
whom  were  just  born,  obtained  results  substantially  agreeing 
with  those  of  Kussmaul.  He  noticed,  however,  that  in  many 
cases  the  introduction  of  an  attenuated  solution  of  quinine 
was  responded  to  by  sucking  movements,  while  stronger  so- 
lutions were  rejected  with  the  mimetic  for  "bitter,"  show- 
ing that  taste  sensibility  is  weaker  at  this  age  than  in  the 
adult.  These  results  are  corroborated  also  by  Kroner,  Feh- 
ling  and  several  others. 

Preyer  agrees  with  the  above  deductions  in  every  respect, 


THE   SENSES  33 

and  adds :  "  It  is  certain  from  all  observations  that  the  newly- 
born  distinguish  the  sensations  of  taste  that  are  decidedly 
different  from  one  another,  —  the  sweet,  sour  and  bitter." 
His  boy,  on  the  first  day  of  life,  licked  powdered  cane 
sugar,  whereas  he  licked  nothing  else.  Later,  on  receiving 
a  strange  food,  he  often  shuddered  and  distorted  his  face 
merely  on  account  of  the  novelty  of  the  sensation,  for,  in 
the  case  of  an  agreeable  sensation,  he  directly  afterwards 
desired  it,  and  received  it  with  an  expression  of  satisfac- 
tion. He  concludes  that  the  association  of  certain  mimetic 
contractions  of  muscles  with  certain  sensations  of  taste  is 
inborn. 

The  development  of  taste-perception  in  the  infant  is  inter- 
esting and  important.  The  pleasures  and  pains  of  taste  play 
a  large  part  in  his  early  education.  The  mouth  is  soon  made 
the  test  organ  to  which  all  objects  are  carried,  and  by  which 
their  qualities  are  ascertained.  Preyer's  boy,  on  the  second 
day,  took  without  hesitation  cow's  milk  diluted  with  water, 
which  on  the  fourth  day  he  stoutly  refused.  During  his 
sixth  month,  he  began  to  refuse  to  take  the  breast  (which 
was  offered  him  only  in  the  night),  because  the  sweetened 
cow's  milk,  which  he  had  taken  in  the  daytime,  was  some- 
what sweeter.  From  this  time  onward,  and  especially  after 
weaning,  his  discrimination  became  much  nicer,  and  by  the 
fourth  and  fifth  years  he  had  become  so  "  fastidious  "  that  even 
the  sight  of  certain  articles  of  diet  would  call  forth  from 
him  the  mimetic  movements  for  nausea,  choking,  etc. 

Perez  says  the  sense  of  taste  is  very  slightly  developed  in 
the  new-born,  yet  it  exists.  A  child  observed  by  him  dis- 
tinguished milk  from  sweetened  water,  and  sweetened  water 
from  plain  water,  by  the  taste.  Yet  there  are  great  differ- 
ences of  gustatory  sensitiveness  among  children.  In  some 
cases,  a  child  of  six  months  has  been  induced  to  take  bitter 
medicine  by  a  change  in  the  color.     On  the  other  hand,  a 


34  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

child  of  two  and  a  half  months  refused  its  bottle  because  the 
milk  was  not  sweetened.  Most  children  begin  very  early  to 
detect  the  acid  taste  in  certain  substances. 

Yet,  in  general,  children's  tastes  change  very  easily,  and 
hence  are  highly  susceptible  to  education  in  almost  every 
direction.  Moreover,  there  are  differences  in  the  same  child 
at  different  times :  the  state  of  the  health,  the  temperature  of 
the  food  and  many  other  circumstances  entering  in  to  disturb 
the  gustatory  equilibrium. 

Perversions  of  the  Sense  of  Taste.  —  In  many  chil- 
dren there  appears  a  peculiar  fondness  for  unsavory  things, 
such  as  earth,  soap,  ink,  flies,  etc.  Ufer  tells  of  a  girl  of 
eleven  who  used  to  drink  the  dirty,  soapy  water  from  the 
wash  basin.  He  also  saw  a  nine-year-old  girl,  the  child  of 
refined  parents,  sucking  the  head  of  a  fish  which  she  had 
taken  from  the  dog's  dinner  dish.  Some  school  children  are 
in  the  habit  of  eating,  in  large  quantities,  pulverized  chalk 
from  the  crayons,  and  the  dust  of  the  slate  pencils. 

V.    Smell 

Taste  and  smell  are  so  closely  associated  that  they  might 
almost  be  considered  together.  The  savor  of  substances 
depends,  to  a  large  extent,  on  their  odor.  These  senses  re- 
semble each  other  in  the  comparative  diffuseness  of  their 
perceptions,  and  in  the  fact  that  their  sensations  are  more 
persistent,  and,  therefore,  less  clearly  distinguishable  suc- 
cessively than  those  of  the  higher  senses. 

In  order  to  have  sensations  of  smell,  there  must  be  air 
in  the  nasal  cavities ;  hence  there  can  be  no  exercise  6f  this 
sense  before  respiration  begins ;  none,  therefore,  before  the 
beginning  of  the  post-natal  life. 

Careful  tests  upon  new-born  children,  however,  show  that 


THE   SENSES  35 

they  are  susceptible  to  strong  odors  in  the  first  hours  of  life. 
Records  are  at  hand  of  tests  made  on  about  fifty  children, 
most  of  whom  were  less  than  a  day,  some  only  fifteen  min- 
utes old.  The  tests  were  made  with  asafcetida,  aqua  foetida, 
and  oleum  dipelli.  Care  was  taken  to  experiment  on  sleep- 
ing as  well  as  waking  children,  in  order  to  avoid  mistakes 
in  interpreting  the  gestures  and  facial  expressions.  The 
result  was  that  the  children  became  uneasy,  knit  the  eyelids 
more  firmly  together,  contracted  the  muscles  of  the  face, 
moved  the  head  and  arms,  and,  finally,  awoke,  sometimes 
even  with  crying.  On  the  removal  of  the  odor,  they  would 
fall  asleep  again.  These  results  were  also  obtained  by 
Kussmaul  in  the  case  of  premature  children. 

With  the  child's  growth,  progress  is  normally  made  in 
power  of  discrimination  by  the  sense  of  smell,  though  more 
slowly  than  in  the  case  of  the  higher  senses.  A  little  girl 
of  eighteen  hours  obstinately  refused  a  nipple  on  which  a 
little  petroleum  had  been  rubbed,  but  readily  took  the  other. 
Another  child  refused  cow's  milk  when  it  was  brought  near 
him.  Another,  at  thirteen  days,  refused  certain  medicines, 
being  guided  solely  by  their  odor.  Decisive  discrimination 
of  pleasant  from  unpleasant  odors,  with  rejection  of  the 
latter,  and  appreciation  of  the  former,  has  been  observed  in 
numerous  instances  from  the  early  part  of  the  second  month 
on ;  and  during  the  second  half  of  the  first  year  this  dis- 
crimination has  become,  with  some  children,  very  marked 
indeed,  a  lively  enjoyment  of  the  scent  of  flowers  often 
being  noticeable  from  this  time  on. 

With  all  this,  however,  the  sense  of  smell  is  far  less 
acute  in  children  than  in  adults.  They  often  appear  un- 
affected by  odors  which  would  be  exceedingly  unpleasant 
to  the  grown  person.  Further,  their  sensibility  to  smells 
very  quickly  becomes  blunted  by  repetition  or  continuance, 
as  is  the  case,  to  a  less  degree,  with  all  persons.     When 


36  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

the  experiments  with  asafcetida,  etc.,  described  above,  were 
repeated,  no  responses  could  be  elicited  after  the  first  or 
second  trial.  Even  after  the  child  has  become  keenly  ap- 
preciative of  odors,  he  seems  utterly  to  lack  that  dexterity 
in  the  management  of  the  organ  which  is  so  noticeable  in 
the  case  of  taste.  Children  well  on  in  the  second  year  of 
life  may  be  observed  to  carry  a  fragrant  flower  to  the  mouth 
—  and  even  into  it  —  instead  of  to  the  nose.  The  same 
awkwardness  is  seen  in  the  management  of  the  breath. 
When  learning  to  smell,  they  invariably  exhale  with  great 
vigor  at  first,  but  require  considerable  practice  before  they 
can  inhale  the  odors. 

Man  seems  greatly  inferior  to  many  of  the  lower  animals 
in  regard  to  smell.  A  kitten  three  days  old  "  spat "  at  a 
hand  which  had  been  licked  by  a  dog.  The  keenness  of 
scent  in  dogs  and  horses,  and  many  wild  animals,  is  pro- 
verbial. In  man,  on  the  other  hand,  this  sense  stands  very 
low  in  the  knowledge-giving  scale.  Even  in  mature  life  it 
gives  but  little  information  respecting  the  external  world, 
and  that  of  an  uncertain  character.  In  the  child,  it  is  con- 
cerned chiefly  with  the  recognition  of  food.  But  it  may 
well  be  that  if  this  sense  were  brought  into  as  constant 
requisition  as  the  sense  of  sight  or  hearing,  and  as  much  care 
bestowed  upon  its  education,  very  important  results  might 
take  place  in  the  way  of  developing  a  smell-sensibility. 

Impeded  Mental  Development  through  Obstructed 
Nasal  Respiration.  —  In  the  case  of  many  children  there 
are  growths  in  the  back  part  of  the  nostrils  and  in  the 
throat,  which  hinder  normal  nasal  breathing.  The  result  is 
habitual  mouth-breathing,  leading  to  chronic  catarrh.  Not 
only  is  the  sense  of  smell  affected,  but  also  the  hearing,  the 
articulation,  and  the  supply  of  blood  to  the  |brain.  A  cer- 
tain retardation  of    the   mental  development  necessarily 


THE   SENSES  37 

follows,  whose  chief  symptoms  are,  lack  of  ability  to  con- 
oentrate  the  attention,  diminished  power  to  resist  fatigue, 
and  indistinctness  of  speech.  Kasemann  found,  among  Dan- 
ish school  children,  that  7.8  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  10.6 
per  cent  of  the  girls  suffered  from  impeded  nasal  respira- 
tion. One  may  judge  from  this,  as  to  the  frequency  of  the 
disorder. 

The  teacher  should  take  every  possible  precaution  to 
prevent  the  development  of  these  abnormal  conditions  in 
the  school.  For  it  is  only  too  true  that  many  children  con- 
tract catarrh  in  the  schoolroom.  Dusty,  chalk-filled  air  is 
very  injurious  to  the  membranous  lining  of  the  nose  and 
throat.  The  words  of  Troltsch  in  this  connection  are  worthy 
of  attention :  "  Very  vitiated  and  unhealthy  air  will  be  found 
frequently  in  schoolrooms,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that 
catarrh  is  so  frequent,  and  affections  of  the  ear  so  difficult 
to  cure,  among  school  children."  Besides  being  careful  to 
have  pure  air,  free  from  dust,  in  the  schoolroom,  the  teacher 
should  also  instruct  the  pupils  in  regard  to  taking  breathing 
exercises  in  the  fresher  air  outside. 

VI.   Temperature 

There  are  two  classes  of  thermic  sensations:  1st,  passive, 
subjective  and  general,  as  when  we  say  "I  am  cold"  or  "I 
am  warm."  2nd,  active,  objective  and  local,  as  when  we 
touch  a  hot  or  cold  object  and  pronounce  it  hot  or  cold. 
Both  are  important  in  the  child's  development,  but  the 
second  sort  lends  itself  to  experiment  more  readily  than 
the  first. 

The  sense  of  temperature  should  not  be  confounded  with 
the  sense  of  touch;  for,  though,  like  touch,  it  is  universal, 
having  its  end-organs  scattered  all  over  the  body,  yet  the 
feeling  in  the  one  case  is  quite  distinct  from  that  in  the 
other. 


38  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

In  the  newly-born,  the  sense  of  warmth  and  cold  develops 
very  promptly.  The  gradual  cooling,  on  coming  into  con- 
tact with  the  external  world,  the  atmosphere,  the  clothing, 
the  bath,  —  all  contribute  to  the  speedy  differentiation  of 
thermic  sensations,  and  to  the  perception  of  temperature. 
Genzmer,  in  experimenting  upon  about  twenty  new-born 
children,  found  that  there  was  active  withdrawal  of  the 
parts  —  palm  of  hand,  sole  of  foot,  cheek,  etc.  —  to  which 
the  cold  object  was  applied.  His  experiments  are  not  en- 
tirely satisfactory,  however,  since  sufficient  care  was  not 
taken  to  exclude  touch  sensations  from  participating. 

Satisfactory  observations  as  to  the  development  of  the 
temperature  sense  are  very  scarce.  Preyer  found  that  the 
warm  bath  was  enjoyed  almost  from  the  first,  but  the  cold 
bath  was  disliked  until  the  child  learned  by  experience  its 
refreshing  effects.  The  lips,  tongue  and  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  mouth  were  surprisingly  sensitive  to  warmth 
and  cold,  even  in  the  first  days.  The  child  would  refuse . 
milk  of  a  temperature  only  slightly  higher  or  lower  than 
that  of  the  mother.  Still,  on  the  whole,  the  infant  suffers 
less  from  extremes  of  temperature  than  the  adult,  in  whose 
case  the  faculty  of  judgment  enters  to  aggravate  the 
sensation. 

An  interesting  point  in  this  connection  is  the  gradual 
variation  between  the  "neutral  point"  in  the  tongue  and 
cavity  of  the  mouth,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  external 
parts,  such  as  the  haud,  on  the  other.  In  the  former  it 
remains  through  life  almost  the  same  as  before  birth,  while 
in  the  latter  it  gradually  lowers  by  contact  with  the  sur- 
rounding medium. 

VII.   Organic  Sensations 

By  this  is  usually  meant  those  comparatively  vague  and 
general  feelings  of  comfort  and  discomfort  arising  from  cer- 


THE   SENSES  39 

tain  conditions  of  the  viscera,  as  distinguished  from  defi- 
nitely located  feelings  resulting  from  excitation  of  the 
special  sense  organs.  Hunger  and  thirst  may  serve  as  ex- 
amples of  visceral  discomfort,  and  the  feeling  of  satiety  that 
follows  the  taking  of  nourishment  as  an  example  of  visceral 
comfort.  We  shall  also  consider  here  feelings  of  pain  in 
general,  whether  produced  by  external  or  internal  stimuli. 

Kussmaul  has  made  some  observations  which  go  to  show 
that  very  soon  after  birth,  from  the  sixth  hour  on,  but  vary- 
ing much  in  different  children,  the  infant  "is  accustomed  to 
betray  distinctly  that  it  is  visited  by  a  sensation  which  we 
must  interpret  as  hunger  or  thirst,  probably  a  mixture  of 
both."  This  feeling  is  expressed  by  uneasy  motions  of  the 
head  and  hands,  sucking  movements,  and  crying.  One  child, 
in  the  sixth  hour  of  her  life,  would  turn  her  head  with  sur- 
prising quickness,  first  to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other,  in 
order  to  take  into  the  mouth  and  suck  the  finger  with  which 
the  observer  stroked  her  on  each  side  of  her  face  in  succes- 
sion, though  he  took  care  that  in  stroking  the  finger  should 
not  touch  her  lips. 

Preyer  observes  that  hunger  and  thirst  assert  themselves 
in  sucking  movements  from  the  first.  Very  soon  the  cry  of 
hunger  is  distinguishable  from  the  cry  of  pain,  being  car- 
ried on  with  more  intervals  and  in  a  lower  tone,  while  the 
tongue  is  held  in  a  peculiar  manner,  being  drawn  back  and 
spread  out.  The  hungry  infant  he  also  observed  to  move 
its  head  from  side  to  side  in  a  way  not  seen  in  any  other 
circumstances.  Gradually  the  child  becomes  relatively  less 
absorbed  in  the  satisfaction  of  hunger.  From  the  fifth 
month,  he  can  be  diverted  from  eating  by  new  noises  and 
movements.  From  the  tenth  month,  his  eating  is  not  so 
hurried  and  greedy.  This  is  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that 
at  this  age  he  takes  more  food  at  a  time,  the  stomach  being 
very  much  larger  than  at  first. 


40  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OP   CHILDHOOD 

For  the  rest,  but  few  observations  have  been  made.  The 
child  experiences  organic  sensations  of  pleasure  and  pain 
(the  pain  possibly  predominating  in  the  earliest  period)  in 
connection  with  the  digestive,  respiratory  and  circulatory 
processes  :  pleasure  in  their  normal  functioning,  pain  when 
the  organs  are  fatigued  or  diseased.  Pleasures  in  general 
are  expressed  by  the  widely  open  and  "  swimming  "  eyes,  by 
the  smile,  —  which,  according  to  Darwin,  occurred  for  the 
first  time  as  a  real  smile  on  the  forty -fifth  day,  —  and  by 
"crowing,"  joyful  tones  of  voice;  pains  by  tightly  closed 
eyes,  mouth  drawn  down  at  the  corners,  and  later  by  the 
quadrangular  form  of  the  mouth  in  crying,  while  the  cry 
itself  varies  according  to  the  cause.  The  child  is  much 
more  easily  fatigued  than  the  adult,  and  during  the  first  few 
days  passes  most  of  the  time  in  sleep. 

VIII.   Muscular  Feelings 

We  assume  that  in  the  normal  condition  all  muscular 
movements  are  accompanied  by  muscular  feelings.  It  is  a 
sort  of  "  internal  touch "  spread  all  over  the  body,  and 
intimately  associated  with  locomotion  and  prehension,  with 
expansion  and  contraction,  with  pressure,  weight,  resist- 
ance, etc.  It  also  includes  the  "  feeling  of  the  state  of  the 
muscles  when  at  rest."  So  closely  connected  with  the 
child's  activity,  its  bearing  on  the  rise  of  will  is  obvious. 

The  child  is  exceedingly  active.  To  move  his  muscles  is 
for  him  an  absolute  necessity,  and  the  wisest  methods  in 
child  training  are  those  which  recognize  this  fact,  and, 
instead  of  repressing  his  activity,  direct  it  into  the  best 
channels. 

Though  muscular  feelings  are  present  early,  they  are 
probably  very  vaguely  apprehended  by  the  child  during  the 
first  month  of  his  life.     By  the  end  of  the   third  month, 


THE  SENSES  41 

however,  a  vast  number  of  these  feelings  have  become  asso- 
ciated with  visual  sensations,  by  means  of  coordinated 
movements  of  the  neck,  arms  and  eyes.  About  this  time 
also  begins  the  discernment  of  weight,  though  the  apprecia- 
tion and  comparison  of  different  weights  are  probably  later 
attainments.  The  healthy  child  experiences  the  keenest 
pleasure  in  the  exercise  of  his  muscles.  One  observed  case 
may  stand  for  many.  A  little  boy,  in  his  fourth  month, 
was  observed  to  hold  his  toy  rabbit  up  by  the  ears,  crowing 
proudly,  in  evident  enjoyment  of  the  effort.  It  is  likely 
that  the  muscular  feeling  of  effort,  by  which  weight  is  dis- 
cerned, is  first  discriminated  in  connection  with  the  move- 
ments of  respiration. 

From  about  the  middle  of  the  first  year,  the  healthy  child 
develops  a  remarkable  propensity  to  seize,  lift,  pull,  and 
otherwise  handle  all  objects  that  come  within  his  reach. 
This  is  to  be  attributed  partly  to  natural  curiosity,  but  more 
particularly  at  this  early  period  to  the  constitutional  need 
of  exercising  the  muscles,  to  which  he  yields  almost  uncon- 
sciously. As  soon  as  he  is  able  to  walk,  the  range  of  his 
muscle-activity  is  vastly  extended,  and  from  this  time  forth 
his  experiences  in  this  connection  play  a  large  and  important 
part  in  his  education.1 

1  For  further  remarks  oil  muscular  movement,  vide  infra,  Chap.  IV. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   INTELLECT 

Most  of  the  phenomena  described  in  the  preceding  pages 
involve  thought  in  a  greater  or  less  degree;  yet  in  the 
earliest  experiences,  mental  activity  is  at  a  minimum ;  the 
affective  predominates  over  the  presentative,  and  the  repre- 
sentative occupies  but  a  very  small  place.  Yet  it  seems 
incorrect  to  say,  with  Nasse,  that  "  mind  comes  first  at  birth, 
and  the  first  breath  is  the  earliest  mark  of  intellect ; "  or 
with  Heyfelder,  that  the  first  cry  is  the  sign  of  awakening 
mind ;  or  with  Karl  Vogt,  that  the  newly-born  possesses  no 
trace  of  intelligence.  Kussmaul  seems  nearer  the  truth  in 
the  following :  "  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  man  comes  into 
the  world  with  an  idea  —  a  dark  one  to  be  sure  —  of  an  outer 
something,  with  a  certain  idea  of  space,  with  the  possibility 
of  localizing  certain  touch  sensations,  and  with  a  certain 
mastery  over  his  movements.  How  can  it  otherwise  be 
explained  that  the  hungry  child,  before  it  is  suckled,  not 
only  seeks  nourishment,  but  seeks  it  in  that  region  where 
its  sense  of  touch  during  the  search  is  actively  excited  ? 
These  astonishing  actions  can  only  be  comprehended  under 
the  following  suppositions  :  First,  that  the  child  has  already 
gained  the  dim  idea  of  an  outer  something  which  is  able  to 
remove  the  unpleasant  sensation  of  hunger  or  thirst,  and 
which,  to  that  end,  must  come  through  the  mouth  ;  secondly, 
that  he  is  able  to  decide  the  place  from  which  the  sensation 
of  stroking  came  j  and  thirdly,  that  he  has  already  learned 

42 


THE    INTELLECT  43 

to  turn  the  head  voluntarily  to  the  one  side  or  to  the 
other." 

It  is  not  possible,  within  the  present  limits,  either  to  give 
a  detailed  exposition  of  the  nature  of  the  thought  process, 
or  to  trace  the  intellectual  development  on  into  the  maturer 
years.  For  these  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  numerous 
standard  works  on  psychology  in  general.  Here  we  can  only 
attempt  to  collate  facts  calculated  to  throw  light  on  the  first 
budding  of  the  intelligence,  and  to  trace  each  phenomenon 
only  to  that  stage  at  which  it  may  be  said  to  be  fairly 
"  under  way."  The  intimate  relation  between  thought  and 
language  also  makes  it  advisable  to  postpone  much  that 
might  be  said  here,  until  we  come  to  the  consideration  of 
the  latter  topic.1 

Observation  of  intellectual  development  is  hampered  by 
two  difficulties,  which  render  great  caution  necessary.  In 
the  first  place,  the  combined  influence  of  heredity  and 
environment  produces  such  wide  individual  differences 
among  children,  that  no  general  conclusions  can  be  safely 
expressed  until  a  very  large  number  of  cases  have  been 
observed.  In  the  second  place,  even  the  most  careful  ob- 
server, watching  one  child,  is  apt  to  be  misled  by  certain 
deceptive  appearances,  and  to  give  the  child  credit  for  a 
good  deal  that  he  does  not  really  know.  "  They  do  clever 
things,  and  say  brilliant  words,  by  imitation  and  accident, 
not  knowing  the  meaning  of  them."  In  this  way  many  a 
child,  supposed  to  be  a  prodigy,  does  not  at  all  excel  others, 
except  in  a  quickness  of  imitation.     When  you  want  him 

i  The  relation  of  thought  and  language  has  perhaps  never  been  more 
aptly  expressed  than  by  Sir  W.  Hamilton  in  the  following:  -'Language 
is  to  the  mind  precisely  what  the  arch  is  to  the  tunnel.  The  power  of 
thinking  and  the  power  of  excavation  are  not  dependent  on  the  word  in 
the  one  case,  nor  on  the  mason  work  in  the  other ;  but  without  these  sub- 
sidiaries neither  process  could  be  carried  on  beyond  its  rudimentary 
commencement."    Lectures,  Vol.  8,  p.  138. 


44  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

to  "  show  off,"  he  fails  you,  simply  because  the  words  do 
not  mean  the  same  to  him  as  they  do  to  you,  and  his  use  of 
them  is  largely  mechanical.  The  child's  act  may  resemble 
ours  outwardly,  but  the  sentiment  underneath  the  act  may 
be  very  different.  G.  S.  Hall  says  :  "  Not  only  are  children 
prone  to  imitate  others  in  their  answers,  without  stopping 
to  think  and  give  an  independent  answer  of  their  own,  but 
they  often  love  to  seem  wise,  and,  to  make  themselves  inter- 
esting, state  what  seems  to  interest  us  without  reference  to 
truth,  divining  the  lines  of  our  interest  with  a  subtlety  we 
do  not  suspect.  On  the  other  hand,  the  child  of  a  retiring 
disposition  may  easily  be  underestimated  by  the  superficial 
observer.  In  interpreting  the  phenomena  here  recorded, 
great  care  is  necessary  to  avoid  an  inaccurate  estimate  of 
their  intellectual  value. 

I.   Perception 

In  the  process  of  perception — which  may  be  simply  de- 
fined as  "  that  act  of  the  mind  by  which  real  external  things 
become  known  through  the  senses  "  —  there  are  three  stages, 
distinguished  from  each  other  qualitatively,  though  not 
chronologically.  First,  the  simple  feelings  of  the  senses 
are  differentiated.  Changes,  quantitative  and  qualitative, 
are  felt  and  known.  The  child  recognizes  the  difference 
between  a  sweet  taste  and  a  bitter  one,  for  example.  He 
could  not  describe  the  difference  even  if  he  could  speak,  but 
is  simply  aware  of  it.  Secondly,  the  sensations  are  local- 
ized. A  definite  "  whereness  "  is  attributed  to  them.  This 
involves  the  recognition  of  space  properties  in  objects,  and 
opens  up  the  vexed  question  of  the  origin  of  the  idea  of 
space,  into  which  we  need  not  enter  here.  Thirdly,  the 
manifold  of  sensation,  thus  differentiated  and  localized,  is 
unified  into  a  permanent  whole,  which  we  call  the  object. 


THE   INTELLECT  45 

The  child  combines  the  scattered  sensations,  visual,  tactual, 
olfactory,  and  sapid,  into  the  perceived  object,  food. 

Taste  Perception's. —  The  first  centre  of  the  child's 
psychic  life  is  the  mouth,  where  taste,  touch,  and  the  muscle- 
sense  cooperate  in  the  acquisition  of  a  knowledge  of  things. 
Probably  the  first  action  is  sucking,  and  later  all  objects  are 
experimented  upon  by  means  of  the  lips  and  hands  together. 
But  even  in  the  third  month,  the  child  is  weak  in  power  of 
comparison,  and  will  suck  an  empty  bottle  as  readily  as  a 
full  one,  until  he  finds  it  is  empty  by  failure  to  extract  any- 
thing from  it.  From  the  eighth  day,  a  wry  face  was  made 
at  the  sight  of  bitter  medicine,  and  by  the  seventh  week 
this  wry  face  was  accompanied  by  a  gesture  of  refusal.  At 
one  month  and  five  days,  a  dose  of  medicine  was  taken  with 
visible  repugnance.  The  experiments  of  Kussmaul,  already 
referred  to,  show  that  discrimination  between  tastes  takes 
place  from  the  first.  It  proceeds,  generally,  with  consider- 
able rapidity  from  the  third  month  on,  and  by  the  tenth 
month  various  articles  of  diet  are  clearly  known  and  distin- 
guished from  one  another.  Yet  the  child,  like  the  adult, 
though  in  a  greater  degree,  is  subject  to  illusions  of  taste, 
through  confusion  of  sapid  with  olfactory  sensations,  and 
with  one  another. 

Sight  Perceptions.  —  During  the  first  month,  the  child 
gives  small  evidence  that  he  has  any  ideas  of  distance,  or 
of  his  own  body.  At  this  age  he  will  strike  or  scratch  his 
own  face.  A  girl  of  thirty  days  "seemed  for  an  instant  to 
have  caught  the  reflected  image  of  herself,"  but  the  next 
moment  she  became  lost  again  in  the  surrounding  objects  of 
the  nursery.  A  boy,  during  his  second  month,  gave  the 
first  sign  of  distinguishing  external  objects  from  himself, 
by  reaching  forward  and  grasping  at  them.     About  the  same 


46        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

time  he  began  apparently  to  pay  attention  to  the  looks  and 
gestures  of  others,  and  at  six  months  he  distinguished  per- 
sons, without,  however,  having  any  clear  ideas  about  them. 
When  anything  presented  itself  to  him,  he  pointed  his 
finger  at  it  to  direct  attention  to  it,  and  sometimes  said 
ah.  From  the  beginning  of  his  second  year,  he  rapidly 
advanced  in  power  of  discrimination,  though  chiefly  among 
objects  fitted  to  satisfy  his  needs.  One  of  the  objects  ear- 
liest to  be  recognized  —  if  not  the  very  earliest  —  is  the 
mother's  face  and  form.  Children  give  evidence  of  this 
recognition  in  the  second  or  third  month.  A  boy  of  seven 
months  "  surely  recognized  three  persons,"  —  his  parents 
and  the  nurse.  Another,  at  nine  weeks,  seemed  to  know 
his  mother.  No  objects,  not  even  the  parents,  are  known 
at  a  distance.  In  the  course  of  the  first  half-year,  much 
improvement  takes  place  in  this  direction.  A  child  in  his 
fifth  month  would  no  longer  grasp  at  objects  beyond  his 
reach.  Smiling  at  the  image  in  the  mirror  has  been 
noticed  as  early  as  the  ninth  week. 

"  From  the  sensations  of  hearing  and  smell,  there  can  be 
formed  no  representations  in  the  first  week."  Near  the 
end  of  the  second  month,  one  child  gave  evidence  that  he 
distinguished  between  tones  of  voice  expressive  of  different 
emotions  and  sentiments.  He  allowed  himself  to  be  pacified 
by  gentle  tones.  Another,  in  his  third  month,  actively 
sought  the  direction  of  sound  by  turning  his  head. 

Owing  to  the  weakness  of  the  attention,  and  lack  of 
experience,  the  young  child  falls  into  many  illusions  of 
sense-perception.  A  child  of  four  months  believes  the 
image  in  the  mirror  is  a  real  person,  as  is  shown  by  his  sur- 
prised look  when  he  hears  behind  him  the  voice  of  the 
individual  to  whom  the  reflection  belongs.  A  boy  of  seven 
months  put  out  both  hands  to  pick  up  a  very  small  piece  of 
paper.     At  six  months  he  mistook  a  flat  dish  for  a  globe, 


THE   INTELLECT  47 

and  seemed  to  believe  all  objects  had  bulk.  The  little  girl 
F.  tried  one  day  to  "  pick  up  "  a  round  picture,  which  was 
made  to  represent  raised  work,  and  another  day  she  tried  to 
walk  on  the  water.  I  once  heard  a  little  girl  of  one  year 
and  a  half  call  the  moon  a  lamp,  showing  how  false  was  her 
idea  of  its  real  distance  and  magnitude. 

Children  are  said  to  be  peculiarly  subject  to  illusions  of 
hearing,  though  I  have  no  examples  to  give.  The  imperfec- 
tion of  their  judgments  by  the  muscular  sense  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  a  child  of  three  months  cannot  tell  a  full  bottle 
from  an  empty  one,  by  the  weight  alone. 

II.   Memory 

The  power  of  retaining  impressions,  and  recognizing  them 
when  reproduced,  has  a  physiological  as  well  as  a  psycho- 
logical aspect ;  the  former  consisting  chiefly  in  the  suscep- 
tibility of  organic  structures  to  receive  impressions  which 
are  capable  of  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  permanency  ;  the 
latter  depending  principally  on  the  power  of  attention. 
Where  the  attention  is  actively  directed  towards  the  present 
sensation,  that  sensation  is  more  easily  and  more  surely 
reproduced  in  memory. 

Little  children  have  but  small  power  of  attention ;  from 
the  psychological  side,  therefore,  their  memories  are  weak. 
Nearly  all  the  experiences  of  the  first  two  years  of  life,  and 
the  vast  majority  of  those  of  the  next  four,  are  completely 
forgotten  by  most  people.  The  cerebral  structures  in  chil- 
dren, however,  are  very  impressible,  so  that,  from  the 
physiological  point  of  view,  the  memory  of  childhood  is 
potentially,  at  least,  very  strong.  This  probably  accounts 
for  the  well-known  fact  that  those  experiences  of  childhood 
that  are  remembered,  are  more  firmly  fixed  and  persist 
longer  than  those  of  early  manhood  or  middle  age.  Let  the 
attention  of  a  little  child  —  which,  be  it  observed,  is  weak 


48        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

in  both  directions,  being  as  hard  to  withdraw  from  a  present 
sensation  as  it  is  to  direct  towards  one — be  enchained  by 
some  startling  or  fascinating  experience,  and  an  impression 
is  made  on  his  plastic  mind  which  can  never  be  effaced.1 
Old  men  recall  the  events  of  fifty  years  ago  better  than 
those  of  last  year. 

The  little  child  is  capable  of  memories  long  before  he  has 
learned  to  speak.  A  little  boy,  six  months  old,  whose  hand 
had  been  slightly  burnt  by  a  hot  vase,  shrank  back  at  the 
sight  of  this  article  a  few  days  after.  Certain  faces,  too, 
are  recognized  by  children  of  this  age,  showing  that  they 
have  memory-images  of  them.  Strange  faces,  too,  are  known 
as  strange,  and  distinguished  from  familiar  ones ;  but  the 
latter  are  not  yet  missed  when  absent.  Sigismund  gives 
an  interesting  case  of  memory  in  a  boy  about  eight  months 
old.  While  in  the  bath  he  tried  repeatedly  to  raise  himself 
up  by  the  edge  of  the  tub,  but  in  vain.  Finally  he  suc- 
ceeded by  grasping  a  handle,  near  which  he  accidentally 
fell.  Next  time  he  was  put  into  the  bath,  he  reached  out 
immediately  for  the  aforesaid  handle  and  raised  himself  up 
in  triumph.  Memory  of  persons  becomes  strong  by  the  end 
of  the  first  year.  A  child  of  this  age  recognized  her  nurse, 
after  six  days'  absence,  "  with  sobs  of  joy."  A  boy  some- 
what younger  knew  his  father  after  four  days'  absence, 
while  another,  seven  months  old,  did  not  recognize  his  nurse 
after  four  weeks'  absence,  but  when  nineteen  months  old  he 
knew  his  father,  even  at  a  distance,  after  two  weeks'  separa- 
tion. Another  child,  four  months  old,  knew  his  nurse  after 
four  weeks,  and  at  ten  months  he  missed  his  parents,  and 
was   troubled   by  their  absence.     A   boy   of  twenty-three 

1  My  first  sight  of  a  locomotive  will  never,  I  believe,  be  effaced,  or  even 
bedimmed,  in  my  memory,  should  I  live  for  a  century.  To-day  I  can  call 
it  up  with  remarkable  vividness,  and  with  all  its  attendant  circumstances 
clearly  and  definitely  portrayed. 


THE    INTELLECT  49 

months  manifested  keen  delight  on  again  seeing  his  play- 
things after  an  interval  of  eleven  weeks  ;  and  when  a  year 
and  a  half  old,  was  greatly  disconcerted  one  day  when  sent 
to  carry  one  towel  to  his  mother,  where  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  carrying  two.  Darwin's  boy,  at  a  little  over 
three  years  of  age,  instantly  recognized  a  portrait  of  his 
grandfather  "and  mentioned  a  whole  string  of  incidents 
which  occurred  at  their  last  meeting,  nearly  six  months 
previous,"  the  matter  not  having  been  mentioned  in  the 
meantime.  The  little  boy  R.  recognized  a  young  lady  who 
lives  next  door,  after  a  few  weeks  of  absence.  He  also 
knew  me  after  nearly  three  weeks.  He  was  then  twenty- 
three  months  old. 

A  boy  one  year  and  a  half  old  heard  some  one  say  one  day 
that  another  boy  had  fallen  and  hurt  his  leg.  Some  days 
after,  the  second  boy  came  in,  whereupon  the  first  ran  up  to 
him,  exclaiming,  "  Fall,  hurt  leg."  A  child  of  two  years, 
whose  mother  had  made  him  a  toy  sled  out  of  a  card,  on 
receiving  a  postal  card  at  the  door  some  days  after,  ran  with 
it  to  his  mother,  crying,  "Mama,  litten"  (Schlitten,  sled). 

New  experiences  call  up  memories  of  old  experiences  by 
association,  and  in  this  way  events  that  occurred  prior  to 
the  period  of  learning  to  speak  are  remembered  after  that 
time.  A  little  boy  of  my  acquaintance  related  the  following 
tale,  the  events  of  which  took  place  before  he  learned  to 
speak:  "Pussy  kime  on  table;  pull  Nonie  off  (i.e.,  Nonie 
pulled  her  off)  ;  pussy  katch  Nonie  face,  hands  too."  This 
was  illustrated  by  gestures,  showing  the  process  of  scratching. 
Another  boy,  three  years  old,  remembered  perfectly  well 
and  would  imitate  his  own  awkward  attempts  at  speaking. 

A  very  interesting  question  in  this  connection  is  this : 
Which  of  the  senses  furnishes  the  most  vivid  and  lasting 
memory-images  ?  The  first  impulse  would  probably  be  to 
attribute  the  preeminence  to  sight,  but  in  so  doing,  we  might 


50  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

make  a  mistake.  It  is  probable,  as  M.  Queyrat  seems  to 
think,  that  the  muscular  sense  is  of  paramount  importance 
here.  Children  are  full  of  action,  and  their  psychic  life 
is  bound  up  with  movement.  If  they  are  to  develop,  they 
must  do  something,  and  they  remember  what  they  do  a 
thousand  times  better  than  what  is  told  or  shown  to  them. 
This  is  also  true  in  adult  life.  Many  persons  study  out 
loud.  We  remember  what  we  write,  better  than  what  we 
simply  read.  Pedagogy  is  now  recognizing  this  as  a  great 
principle  in  education,  and  the  whole  kindergarten  system 
is  based  upon  it. 

In  connection  with  hearing,  the  child  remembers  best 
some  connected  story  which  is  helped  out  by  gestures 
appealing  to  the  eye.  The  little  boy  C,  at  twenty-five 
months,  reproduced  after  his  own  fashion  the  story  of  Little 
Eed  Riding  Hood  (having  heard  it  only  once,  and  that  the 
night  before)  with  abundant  gesture,  and  then  laughed  in 
great  glee. 

An  interesting  experiment  in  this  direction  is  reported 
by  Baldwin  in  Science  for  May  2nd,  1890.  The  child  was  six 
and  a  half  months  old.  Her  nurse  had  been  absent  three 
weeks.  On  returning  she  first  appeared  before  the  child 
without  speaking,  then  she  spoke  without  appearing.  In 
neither  case  was  she  recognized.  But  when  she  appeared 
again,  and  sang  a  familiar  nursery  rhyme,  the  child  recog- 
nized her  with  demonstrations  of  joy.  This  is  a  good 
example  of  the  "  summation  of  stimuli,"  or.  the  cooperation 
of  different  sensations,  reinforcing  each  other,  to  produce  a 
result  which  neither  could  accomplish  by  itself. 

The  Memory  in  School  Children.  —  Great  interest  at- 
taches to  the  investigations  that  have  been  carried  on  re- 
garding the  memory  by  Bolton,  Calkins,  Kirkpatrick, 
Hawkins  and  W.  Lay  in  America;  by  Kemsies,  A.  Lay,  Lob- 


THE    INTELLECT  51 

sien  and  Pohlman  iu  Germany ;  by  Winch  in  England ;  by 
Binet  and  Henri,  Vaschide  and  Vurpas  in  France ;  and  by 
Netschajeff  in  Russia.  The  latest  and  most  comprehensive 
investigation  is  that  by  Pohlman,  on  which  account  we  refer 
to  it  in  particular.  The  materials  employed  were  partly 
meaningless,  such  as  letters  of  the  alphabet,  numbers,  and 
meaningless  words,  and  partly  intelligible,  such  as  abstract 
and  concrete  substantives,  both  one-syllabled  and  many-syl- 
labled, foreign  words,  sentences  and  prose  paragraphs.  The 
presentation  and  assimilation  of  this  material  can  be  accom- 
plished acoustically  through  speech,  or  visually ;  or  the  two 
processes  may  be  combined. 

These  investigations  have  shown  that  the  power  of  memory 
increases  with  the  age  of  the  pupil,  in  opposition  to  the  com- 
mon opinion  that  this  power  is  greatest  from  the  beginning 
of  school  life  until  the  tenth  or  thirteenth  year,  and  then 
decreases.  The  experiments  seem  to  show,  on  the  contrary, 
an  increase  of  memory  power  up  to  the  twentieth  year,  be- 
yond which  no  systematic  investigations  have  as  yet  been 
undertaken.  It  has  also  been  proven  experimentally  that 
exercise  plays  a  great  part  in  the  development,  of  the  mem- 
ory, that  girls  decidedly  surpass  boys  in  the  ability  to  mem- 
orize, that  the  memory  for  concrete  objects  is  much  stronger 
than  for  verbal  impressions,  that  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
life  the  capacity  is  greater  for  acoustic  material,  in  the  later 
stages  for  visual  material,  and  that  the  combination  of 
auditory  and  visual  impressions  produces  only  a  small  advan- 
tage. Reference  may  also  be  made  to  the  fact  that  different 
pupils  show  different  kinds  of  sensuous  memory,  inasmuch 
as  some  learn  more  easily  through  the  eye,  and  others 
through  the  ear. 

Disorders  of  Memory.  —  The  teacher  should  know  that 
children,  as  well  as  adults,  may  be  troubled  with  abnormal 


52  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

or  pathological  forgetfulness,  in  addition  to  natural  or 
physiological  forgetfulness.  In  such  cases  even  the  most 
recent  impressions  are  retained  only  slightly  if  at  all.  Even 
in  the  early  morning,  or  at  the  beginning  of  the  lesson,  these 
children  are  incapable  of  reproducing  what  they  have  learned. 
This  condition  seems  connected  with  a  curious  excitement, 
whose  cause  cannot  be  discovered.  In  such  children  mo- 
mentary forgetfulness  appears  very  frequently  and  with 
remarkable  intensity.  Pathological  memory-weakness  in 
children  accompanies  melancholia,  paranoia,  neurasthenia 
and  imbecility,  which  will  be  dealt  with  more  fully  in  the 
seventh  chapter. 

III.   Association 

Memory  and  imagination  proceed  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  association.  The  chief  of  these  are  resemblance, 
contiguity  and  contrast.  The  general  principle  of  associa- 
tion has  been  expressed  in  this  way:  "When,  for  any 
reason,  a  part  of  an  old  mental  movement  is  reinstated, 
there  is  a  tendency  for  the  whole  movement  to  reinstate 
itself."  The  physiological  under-structure  of  association 
scarcely  exists  at  birth,  but  gradually,  through  experience, 
dynamic  pathways  in  the  cerebral  substance  are  developed, 
constituting  an  associative  network,  connecting  the  various 
centres  with  one  another.  On  the  mental  side  an  increasing 
readiness  to  note  resemblances,  differences,  etc.,  and  to  note 
them  where  they  are  less  obvious,  is  developed  in  the  course 
of  experience. 

In  Mr.  Darwin's  opinion,  the  child  far  surpasses  the  lower 
animals  in  associative  power.  "The  facility  with  which 
associated  ideas  .  .  .  were  acquired,  seemed  to  me  by  far 
the  most  strongly  marked  of  all  the  distinctions  between 
the  mind  of  an  infant  and  that  of  the  cleverest  full-grown 
dog  I  ever  saw." 


THE    INTELLECT  53 

The  recorded  observations  on  this  point  show  great  in- 
dividual dif'fcreniu's.  ( Mianipneys  s;i\v  signs  of  association 
of  pleasurable  feelings  as  early  as  the  eighth  week,  when  the 
child  accompanied  a  smiling  expression  with  sucking  motions 
of  the  lips.  Tiedemann  thought  he  saw  traces  of  association 
on  the  eighteenth  day,  when  the  child  ceased  crying  and  put 
himself  into  the  attitude  for  taking  nourishment  when  a  soft 
hand  came  into  contact  with  his  face.  Sully  observed  a 
similar  thing  at  ten  weeks.  Darwin,  on  the  contrary,  did 
not  notice  any  signs  of  associations  firmly  fixed  before  the 
fifth  month ;  and  Taine  puts  it  as  late  as  the  tenth  month ; 
while  Perez  believes  that  homogeneous  sensations  are,  by 
the  middle  of  the  first  month,  associated  to  such  a  point 
that  they  are  recognized  when  reproduced  ;  and  he  goes  on 
to  say  that  "  there  is  not  one  of  the  combinations  of  associa- 
tions, which  have  been  studied  so  carefully  by  psychologists, 
of  which  we  cannot  find  at  least  a  faint  foreshadowing  in  a 
child  of  six  or  seven  months." 

The  following  are  examples  of  association  by  contiguity : 
When  a  little  child's  hat  and  cloak  are  put  on,  or  he  is 
placed  in  his  carriage,  he  becomes  restless,  and  even  angry, 
if  not  immediately  taken  out.  This  has  been  observed  in 
children  less  than  half  a  year  old,  and  in  others  of  one 
year.  At  the  latter  age  the  association  is  much  stronger ; 
he  cannot  even  see  a  hat,  cloak  or  umbrella  without  mani- 
festing the  same  restlessness.  Probably  also,  as  Perez 
thinks,  we  may  see  in  the  child's  crying  for  food  on  the 
return  of  daylight  the  germ  of  association  by  succession, 
out  of  which  is  constructed  the  idea  of  time.  A  rudimen- 
tary notion  of  cause  and  effect  may  also  be  seen  in  the  babe 
of  half  a  year  or  thereabouts,  who,  having  been  once  burnt 
by  a  hot  object,  afterwards  draws  back  at  the  sight  of  it ; 
ami  in  the  child  who,  finding  a  peculiar  scratching  sound  to 
follow  the  passage  of  his  finger  nail  over  an  object,  repeats 


54  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

the  process  again  and  again,  until  he  has  clearly  established 
the  relation  between  the  motion  and  the  sound.  Con- 
tiguity in  the  form  of  coexistence  is  seen  in  the  following  : 
At  seven  months,  the  person  of  the  nurse  was  associated 
with  the  sound  of  her  name ;  when  her  name  was  uttered, 
the  child  would  turn  round  and  look  for  her.  The  same 
thing  was  observed  in  another  child  five  months  old. 
Darwin's  boy,  at  nine  months,  associated  his  own  name 
with  his  image  in  the  mirror.  When  ten  months  old  he 
learned  that  an  object  which  caused  a  shadow  to  fall  on  the 
wall  in  front  of  him,  was  to  be  looked  for  behind.  When 
less  than  a  year  old,  it  was  sufficient  to  repeat  a  short  sen- 
tence two  or  three  times  at  intervals,  to  fix  firmly  in  his 
mind  some  associated  idea. 

Resemblance,  if  not  the  earliest,  is  certainly  among  the 
strongest  of  the  child's  associations.  Darwin's  child,  in  the 
second  half  of  his  first  year,  would  shake  his  head  and  say 
ah  to  the  coal-box,  to  water  spilt  on  the  floor,  and  to  such 
things  as  bore  a  resemblance  to  things  which  he  had  been 
taught  to  consider  dirty.  Another  boy,  nine  months  old,  on 
hearing  the  word  "  papa,"  would  hold  out  his  arms  to  another 
gentleman  who  resembled  his  father ;  and  a  little  girl  of 
this  age  knew  the  portrait  of  her  grandfather  as  it  hung  on 
the  wall.  Sigismund  says :  "  I  showed  my  boy  —  not  yet 
one  year  old  —  a  stuffed  woodcock,  and  said  'Vogel.'  He 
immediately  turned  his  eyes  to  another  part  of  the  room, 
and  looked  at  a  stuffed  owl  which  stood  there."  Taine's 
little  girl,  at  fifteen  months,  on  seeing  colored  pictures  of 
birds,  immediately  cried  out  koko,  which  was  her  name  for 
chicken.  The  little  boy  C,  on  seeing  the  image  on  a  postal 
card,  at  once  made  a  peculiar  snuffing  noise,  which  his 
grandfather  was  in  the  habit  of  doing,  showing  that  he 
observed  a  resemblance  between  his  grandfather  and  the 
picture  on  the  card. 


THE   INTELLECT  55 

For  resemblances  among  sounds,  children  in  general  have 
the  keenest  relish.  They  are  inveterate  punsters.  Rhymes 
and  alliterations  are  their  especial  delight.  They  will  catch 
the  faintest  link  of  resemblance  in  the  sounds  of  words. 
"Harry  O'Neil  is  nicknamed  Harry  Oatmeal,  .  .  .  October 
suggests  knocked  over,  and  from  do  re  me,  they  get  do  re 
you."  Mere  jingles,  tiresome  to  the  grown-up  person,  will 
amuse  them  for  hours ;  such  as  "  Ene,  mene,  mine  mo,"  etc., 
or,  "Dickory,  dickory,  dock,"  etc. 

When  the  child  learns  to  speak,  the  power  of  association 
by  resemblances,  in  his  mind,  is  exemplified  in  his  habit  of 
enlarging  the  denotation  of  words,  so  as  to  make  one  word 
do  duty  for  several  objects  which  resemble  each  other  in 
certain  respects.  The  discussion  of  this  will  be  resumed 
later  {infra,  Section  5  and  Chap.  V.). 

Associative  Connections  in  School  Children.  — 
Ziehen  was  the  first  to  experiment  on  the  association  of  ideas 
in  children.  He  carried  on  his  investigations  on  boys  from 
eight  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  belonging  to  the  practice 
school  of  the  Pedagogical  Seminary  of  the  University  of 
Jena.  He  called  out  to  the  children  words  arbitrarily  se- 
lected, and  required  them  to  say,  as  promptly  as  possible, 
'•  whatever  occurred  to  them  first."  The  experiments,  car- 
ried on  for  more  than  two  years,  yielded  the  following  re- 
sults: In  the  children's  minds  concrete  representations 
predominate  over  abstract,  and  simple  over  complex.  The 
association  of  ideas  which  rest  directly  on  the  simultaneity 
of  the  underlying  sense-impressions  and  the  feeling-tone  of 
the  ideas,  plays  the  chief  role  in  determining  the  course  of 
the  ideas.  Association  of  judgments  is  not  so  prominent  as 
in  the  adult.  The  rapidity  of  the  association  of  ideas 
fluctuates  within  wider  limits  in  the  child  than  in  the 
adult. 


56        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

Disorders  of  Association.  —  Even  though  no  sharp  line 
can  be  drawn  between  the  normal  and  the  abnormal  rate  of 
association,  yet  it  is  easy  to  recognize  the  pathological  accel- 
eration of  the  ideational  process  (idea-rout)  and  its  patho- 
logical retardation  (thought-impediment).  These  two  are 
formal  disorders,  as  distinguished  from  disorders  of  content, 
which  have  to  do  with  the  relation  between  the  association 
of  ideas  and  the  facts  of  the  external  world.  The  latter  are 
either  fixed  ideas  or  hallucinations. 

Idea-rout  may  be  presumed  in  a  child,  if  he  speaks  with 
abnormal  rapidity,  though  without  disorder  in  the  content 
of  the  ideas.  If  the  acceleration  in  the  passage  of  ideas  be 
not  the  effect  of  feelings  of  pleasure,  then  it  is  pathological. 
As  an  example  of  idea-rout  of  a  pronounced  type,  take  the 
utterance  of  a  thirteen-year-old  girl  observed  by  Ziehen : 
"  Ilmenau  is  a  higher  elementary  school.  There  are  two 
thousand  children  there.  Ilmenau  belongs  to  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach ;  and  to  the  forest  prin- 
cipality Meiningen.  Ilmenau  is  a  country-stream  and  brook. 
Ilmenau  belongs  to  the  world  ;  to  the  great  world  ;  Ilmenau 
does  not  belong  to  us,  to  Saxony -Meiningen,  Ootha,  Arnstadt, 
Orlamunde,  Frankfort-on-the-Sea,  Dead  Sea,  Mediterranean 
Sea.  Ilmenau  is  known  among  all  classes ;  first  class,  second 
class,  up  to  the  ninth  class."  Parallel  with  the  acceleration 
of  the  association  of  ideas  there  is  also  in  idea-rout  a  marked 
rapidity  of  all  movements  and  actions.  Idea-rout  appears 
most  frequently  in  cases  of  mania,  which  we  shall  discuss 
fully  in  the  seventh  chapter. 

In  Thought-impediment  the  child  answers  questions  slowly 
or  not  at  all.  An  extraordinary  amount  of  time  is  required 
for  the  lightest  school  tasks.  Physical  activities  also  are 
very  slowly  accomplished.  In  order  to  distinguish  thought- 
impediment  (which  occurs  chiefly  in  cases  of  melancholia 
and  neurasthenia)  from  the  weakmindeduess  of  imbecility 


THE   INTELLECT  57 

(see  Chap.  VII.),  present  behavior  should  be  compared  with 
that  of  an  earlier  age.  The  child  suffering  from  thought-im- 
pediment may  have  been,  at  an  earlier  age,  a  very  apt  scholar; 
whereas  the  weakminded  child  has  always  shown  but  small 
capability.  In  thought-impediment  the  mental  associations 
are  present,  but  they  require  a  longer  time  for  their  repro- 
duction ;  in  weakmindedness  the  associations  are  lacking, 
and  so  cannot  be  reproduced.  The  child  affected  in  this  way 
may  often  be  seen  to  pass  his  hand  over  his  forehead.  The 
teacher  should  clearly  understand  that  when  a  child  loses 
ground  markedly,  the  cause  is  not  always  indolence  ;  in  some 
cases  it  is  due  to  an  abnormal  retardation  of  the  process  of 
ideation. 

In  the  case  of  Fixed  Ideas  there  are  absurd  associations 
whose  falsity  the  child  himself  sees.  These  false  associations 
force  themselves  upon  him  against  his  will.  They  may  take 
many  forms.  A  boy  observed  by  Westphal  did  not  like  to 
go  through  his  father's  office,  because  here  the  thought  would 
come  to  him  that  he  might  be  accused  of  stealing  papers. 
Wille  reports  that  a  twelve-year-old  boy  suffered  from  the 
fixed  idea  that  he  might  start  a  fire  by  means  of  the  phos- 
phorus on  the  matches.  Then  the  idea  of  getting  something 
noxious  through  his  food  tormented  him,  so  that  he  felt 
compelled  to  examine  all  that  he  ate  with  extreme  care. 
Whenever  he  went  upon  the  street  the  thought  came  to  him 
that  a  window  shutter,  or  a  tile  from  the  roof,  might  fall 
upon  him  or  others,  and  kill  them.  If  he  saw  an  opening 
in  the  street,  he  feared  that  he  and  others  might  fall  into  it ; 
ami  this  troubled  him  to  such  a  degree  that  he  went  to  the 
police  for  protection.  Westphal  observed  a  thirteen-year- 
old  boy  who  never  seized  a  metal  door  latch  with  his  hand, 
but  always  used  his  elbow,  because,  "  there  might  be  verdi- 
gris on  it."  For  the  same  reason  he  did  not  like  to  drop  a 
letter  into  the  post  box.     He  always  washed  his  hands  after 


58  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD 

writing,  lest  there  should  be  ink  upon  them,  which  might 
injure  him.  Krafft-Ebing  reports  of  a  thirteen-year-old  girl 
that  she  could  not  abstain  from  thinking  on  the  problem  of 
the  Trinity.  How  it  could  be  possible  for  three  persons  to 
be  united  in  one ;  why  God  had  to  sacrifice  his  Son,  and 
make  him  suffer,  for  the  redemption  of  sinful  humanity, 
seeing  that  he  in  his  omnipotence  could  have  made  all  men 
good  from  the  beginning;  how  God's  Son  became  man;  and 
what  the  meaning  of  certain  religious  customs  could  be. 
Fixed  ideas  appear  very  frequently  in  neurasthenic  children. 
In  most  cases  they  disappear  in  process  of  time,  though  in 
some  cases  they  develop  into  insanity. 

Hallucinations  are  also  false  associations  of  ideas,  but  in 
this  case  the  child  cannot  be  convinced  of  their  absurdity. 
Hallucinations  take  many  forms ;  such  as  the  ideas  of  sick- 
ness or  of  persecution ;  less  frequently  the  idea  of  greatness, 
or  of  sin.  Steiner  reports  of  a  six-year-old  boy,  whose  sister 
died  of  inflammation  of  the  cerebral  tissues,  that  day  and 
night  he  was  tortured  by  the  thought  that  he  too  must  die  of 
this  disease.  In  every  cough  he  detected  the  beginning  of 
the  dreaded  malady.  If  he  discovered  any  little  pimple  on 
his  skin,  he  believed  he  had  a  dangerous  eruption.  Neither 
by  argument,  nor  by  diversion,  could  the  hallucination  be 
dispelled.  Maudsley  observed  a  fourteen-year-old  girl  who 
when  excited  would  cry  out,  "  Mother,  I  am  dying."  An 
eleven-year-old  boy,  treated  by  Giintz,  used  to  listen  behind 
the  curtains,  and  when  questioned,  would  say  that  the  police 
wanted  to  catch  him  and  have  him  punished  at  school.  He 
avoided  his  father,  hid  himself  from  every  stranger,  went 
in  a  constrained  way  to  his  meals,  ate  sparingly,  would  spit 
out  morsels  of  food  frequently,  and  examine  minutely  the 
rest  of  the  food  on  his  plate.  He  showed  distrust  of  all 
men,  and  suspicion  of  every  action  on  the  part  of  his  own 
family.     Meschede  declares  of  a  five-year-old  girl  that  she 


THE    INTELLECT  W 

believed  that  her  little  sister  would  insult  and  slander  her, 
that  she  had  thrown  a  stick  of  wood  at  her  and  had  beaten 
her  with  a  whip.  She  repeatedly  complained  that  her  mother 
had  put  crumbs  in  her  bed.  She  had  the  idea  firmly  fixed 
that  some  one  wanted  to  steal  her  and  her  sister ;  on  this 
account  she  used  to  beg  her  mother  to  carefully  fasten  the 
door.  A  thirteen-year-old  girl,  observed  by  Moller,  was  cer- 
tain that  immeasurable  wealth  and  splendid  castles  belonged 
to  her.  Henoch  says  of  a  ten-year-old  girl  that  she  posed 
as  a  princess,  and  demanded  from  her  relatives  corresponding 
services.  A  mentally  weak  boy  observed  by  Ziehen  used 
to  say  to  himself,  "  I  am  so  bad,  no  one  can  love  me." 

Hallucinations  appear  more  especially  in  cases  of  paranoia, 
of  which  they  constitute  the  chief  symptom ;  but  they  may 
occur  also  in  mania,  melancholia,  congenital  imbecility, 
neurasthenia  and  hysteria. 

IV.   Imagination 

There  are  two  species  of  imagination.  First,  the  passive, 
in  which,  without  the  exercise  of  active  attention,  or  any 
effort  of  will,  images  pass  and  repass,  arranging  and 
rearranging  themselves  in  the  phantasy.  This  is  exempli- 
fied in  dreams,  and  in  the  resuscitation  of  faded  memory 
images  in  the  waking  moments  by  the  laws  of  association. 
Secondly,  the  active  or  constructive  imagination,  in  which, 
by  an  effort  of  attention  and  will,  old  images  are  worked  up 
into  new  forms,  inanimate  objects  have  life  and  personality 
attributed  to  them,  and  curious  scenes  and  combinations  are 
produced  by  the  inventive  genius  of  the  person  imagining. 

With  regard  to  the  first,  Perez  says :  "  The  child,  hardly 
a  month  old,  who  recognizes  his  mother's  breast  at  a  very 
short  distance,  shows,  by  the  strong  desire  he  has  to  get  to 
it,  that  this  sight  has  made  an  impression  on  him,  and  that 


60        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

this  image  must  be  deeply  engraven  on  his  memory.  The 
child  who,  at  the  age  of  three  months,  turns  sharply  round 
on  hearing  a  bird  sing,  or  on  hearing  the  name  coco  pro- 
nounced, and  looks  about  for  the  bird  cage,  has  formed  a 
very  vivid  idea  of  the  bird  and  the  cage.  When,  a  little 
later,  on  seeing  his  nurse  take  her  cloak,  or  his  mother  wave 
her  umbrella,  he  shows  signs  of  joy,  and  pictures  to  himself 
a  walk  out  of  doors,  he  is  again  performing  a  feat  of 
imagination.  In  like  manner,  when,  at  the  age  of  seven  or 
eight  months,  having  been  deceived  by  receiving  a  piece  of 
bread  instead  of  cake,  on  finding  out  the  trick,  he  throws 
the  bread  away  angrily,  we  feel  sure  that  the  image  of  the 
cake  must  be  very  clearly  imprinted  on  his  mind.  Finally, 
when  he  begins  to  babble  the  word  papa  at  the  sight  of  any 
man  whatever,  it  must  be  that  the  general  characteristics 
which  make  up  what  he  calls  papa  are  well  fixed  in  his 
imagination."  When  they  are  left  alone,  children  who  have 
acquired  the  word  "  mamma"  will  repeat  this  name  over 
and  over  again,  proving  the  presence  of  the  mother's  image 
in  the  imagination. 

One  of  the  most  significant  forms  of  the  passive  imagina- 
tion in  childhood  is  the  dream.  It  is  very  difficult  to  ascer- 
tain when  the  child  first  begins  to  dream,  and  this  for 
several  reasons.  The  child  who  can  talk  will  "tell  his 
dreams,"  in  imitation  of  grown-up  people,  no  dream  having 
taken  place.  In  the  case  of  the  child  who  cannot  talk,  we 
have  very  little  reliable  information  to  go  upon.  But  there 
seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  dreams  may  take  place  just  as 
soon  as  the  child's  waking  experiences  have  furnished  him 
with  clear  and  definite  sensations. 

As  for  the  constructive  imagination,  our  space  will  not 
admit  the  hosts  of  examples  that  might  be  given  of  the 
wonderful  fertility  of  children's  minds  in  this  respect. 
Their  little  wooden  toys  become  transformed  into  real  sol- 


THE    [NTELLECT  61 

diers,  fighting  real  battles,  mighty  locomotives  drawing  long 
trains  of  heavily  laden  cars,  or  great  steamships  sailing  over 
unfathomable  oceans.  "  Given  a  few  broken  pieces  of  glass, 
a  flower,  a  fruit,  a  colored  string,  a  doll,  and  out  of  them 
the  baby  imagination  constructs  an  immeasurable  happi- 
ness."1 Indeed  it  would  seem,  as  Jastrow  says,  that  the 
function  of  toys  is  to  serve  as  "lay  figures,  on  which  the 
child's  imagination  can  weave  and  drape  its  fancies."  In 
order  to  serve  this  purpose,  the  toy  does  not  need  to  be 
a  work  of  art.  "  We  don't  like  buyed  dolls,"  says  little 
Budge,  in  "  Helen's  Babies,"  and  in  so  saying,  he  seems  to 
voice  the  opinions  of  the  majority  of  children.  A  wax  doll 
is  a  nice  thing  to  have,  and  look  at  occasionally,  but  for 
real,  "sure  enough,"  every-day  play,  give  us  the  old  rag 
doll.2 

Children  in  their  plays  imagine  themselves  other  than 
they  are.  They  transform  themselves  into  kings  and 
queens,  professors  and  preachers,  fathers  and  mothers  and 
grandparents,  and  fulfil  all  the  functions  of  neighbors  and 
citizens  with  the  greatest  solemnity  and  dignity.  They 
surround  themselves  with  imaginary  personages,  and  carry 
on  imaginary  conversations.3 

I  shall  close  this  section  with  a  quotation.  W.  W.  Newell, 
in  "  Games  and  Songs  of  American  Children,"  says:  "Observe 
a  little  girl  who  has  attended  her  mother  for  an  airing  in 

1  See  "  The  Story  of  a  Sand  Pile,"  by  G.  S.  Hall,  in  Scribner's  Magazine 
for  June,  1888. 

2  The  same  thing  holds  with  regard  to  pictures.  I  have  seen  a  copy  of 
a  German  picture-book  for  children,  which  is  almost  completely  lacking  in 
artistic  excellence,  but  which  has  gone  through  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  editions.  A  movement  is  now  on  foot  in  Russia  to  prohibit  the  im- 
portation of  the  finely  finished  and  elegant  French  toys,  on  the  ground 
that  they  leave  no  room  for  the  exercise  of  the  child's  imagination. 

8  "One  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  childhood  IB  found  in  the  mysteries 
which  it  hides  from  the  scepticism  of  the  elders,  and  works  up  into  small 
mythologies  of  its  own."     Holmes,  "  The  Poet  at  the  Breakfast  Table." 


62  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

some  city  park.  The  older  person,  quietly  seated  beside 
the  footpath,  is  half  absorbed  in  reverie;  takes  little  notice 
of  passers-by,  or  of  neighboring  sights  or  sounds,  further 
than  to  cast  an  occasional  glance,  which  may  inform  her  of 
the  child's  security.  The  other,  left  to  her  own  devices, 
wanders  contented  within  the  limited  scope,  incessantly 
prattling  to  herself;  now  climbing  an  adjoining  rock,  now 
flitting  like  a  bird  from  one  side  of  the  pathway  to  the  other. 
Listen  to  her  monologue,  flowing  as  incessantly  and  musi- 
cally as  the  bubbling  of  a  spring;  if  you  can  catch  enough 
to  follow  her  thought,  you  will  find  a  perpetual  romance 
unfolding  itself  in  her  mind.  Imaginary  persons  accom- 
pany her  footsteps ;  the  properties  of  a  childish  theatre  exist 
in  her  fancy;  she  sustains  a  conversation  in  three  or  four 
characters.  The  roughness  of  the  ground,  the  hasty  passage 
of  a  squirrel,  the  chirping  of  a  sparrow,  are  occasions  suffi- 
cient to  suggest  an  exchange  of  impressions  between  the 
unreal  figures  with  which  her  world  is  peopled.  If  she 
ascends,  not  without  a  stumble,  the  artificial  rockwork,  it  is 
with  the  expressed  solicitude  of  a  mother  who  guides  an 
infant  by  the  edge  of  a  precipice;  if  she  raises  her  glance 
to  the  waving  green  overhead,  it  is  with  the  cry  of  pleasure 
exchanged  by  playmates  who  trip  from  home  on  a  sunshiny 
day.  The  older  person  is  confined  within  the  barriers  of 
memory  and  experience,  the  younger  breathes  the  free  air 
of  creative  fancy." 

Hyperphantasy.  —  The  activity  of  the  imagination,  even 
in  perfectly  healthy  children,  fluctuates  between  wide  limits; 
in  some  children  it  shows  a  much  greater  degree  of  vivacity 
than  in  others.  Moreover,  in  some  it  operates  chiefly  in  the 
realm  of  visual  ideas,  while  in  others  it  prefers  auditory 
ideas.  It  is  therefore  not  easy  to  distinguish  in  the  child 
the  normal  activity  of  imagination  from  its  abnormal  forms. 


THE   INTELLECT  63 

According  to  Ziehen  the  following  signs  indicate  an  abnor- 
mal condition  of  this  faculty :  (1)  exclusive,  or  almost  exclu- 
sive, absorption  of  the  phantasy  with  the  child's  own  ego; 
(2)  monotonous  occupation  of  the  fancies  with  one's  own 
origin,  with  oppression  and  persecution;  (3)  shunning  chil- 
dren of  the  same  age,  with  a  preference  for  solitude ;  (4)  un- 
usually strong  and  persistent  after-effects  on  the  habitual 
activities,  disposition,  and  character  of  the  child.  Hyper- 
phantasy  shows  itself  in  the  pathological  lie  (see  Chap.  VI.) ; 
in  hysteria  it  is  the  most  important  mental  symptom.  The 
teacher  should  give  special  attention  to  children  with  an 
abnormally  active  imagination.  Such  children  should  read 
natural  history  in  preference  to  exciting  fiction.  They 
should  also  be  specially  urged  to  manual  activity,  to  play, 
to  making  natural  history  collections,  and  should  be  pre- 
vented from  cultivating  solitude. 

V.    The  Discursive  Processes 

Conception,  judgment,  and  reasoning,  the  three  processes 
of  discursive  thought,  are  treated  together,  because  it  is 
impossible  to  make  qualitative  distinctions  among  them. 
They  differ  only  in  degree,  not  in  kind.  In  every  concept, 
there  is  involved  a  rudimentary  judgment,  and  the  syllogism 
consists  simply  in  the  apperceptive  synthesis  of  judgments, 
whose  constituent  elements  are  concepts.  The  three  are 
then  at  bottom  only  different  stages  in  the  one  process,  by 
which  knowledge  of  the  abstract  is  elaborated.  Examples 
given,  therefore,  to  illustrate  the  one,  contain  elements 
almost  equally  illustrative  of  the  others. 

Conception.  —  The  child's  earliest  experience,  being 
predominantly  sensuous,  is  also  predominantly  individual 
and  concrete.     He  lives  in  the  particular.     It  is  a  momen- 


64  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

tons  juncture  in  his  life  when  he  first  steps  out  beyond 
individual  things,  to  abstract  their  common  qualities,  and 
of  these  to  form  notions.  It  is  only  then  that  he  begins  to 
think,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word ;  and  it  is  this  think- 
ing in  abstractions  and  generals,  which,  in  Locke's  opinion, 
differentiates  the  human  mind  essentially  from  lower  animal 
intelligence. 

Taine  believes  that  the  general  notion  makes  its  appear- 
ance only  with  the  acquisition  of  language.  Preyer,  on 
the  other  hand,  maintains  that  "even  before  the  first 
attempts  at  speaking,  a  generalizing  and,  therefore,  concept- 
forming  combination  of  memory-images  regularly  takes 
place."  "  That  the  ability  to  abstract  may  show  itself, 
though  imperfectly,  even  in  the  first  year,  is,  according  to 
my  observations,  certain.  Infants  are  struck  by  a  quality 
of  an  object  —  e.g.,  the  white  appearance  of  milk.  The 
'abstracting,'  then,  consists  in  the  isolating  of  this  quality 
from  innumerable  other  sight-impressions,  and  the  blending 
of  the  impressions  into  a  concept.  The  naming  of  this, 
which  begins  months  later,  ...  is  an  outward  sign  of  this 
abstraction,  which  did  not  at  all  lead  to  the  formation  of 
the  concept,  but  followed  it."  He  also  quotes  from  Oehl- 
wein  to  show  that  deaf-mute  children,  in  the  first  year 
of  life,  form  concepts,  and  logically  combine  them  with  one 
another ;  and  he  concludes  that  thinking  is  not  bound  up 
with  verbal  language,  though  it  no  doubt  demands  a  certain 
degree  of  cerebral  development.  Even  orangs  and  chim- 
panzees reason  without  language,  but  their  concepts  are 
neither  so  abstract,  so  clear,  nor  so  numerous  as  those  of  the 
child  even  before  he  learns  to  speak,  while  after  that  time 
the  gulf  between  them  widens  infinitely. 

According  to  Romanes,  there  is  a  class  of  ideas  standing 
between  the  percept  and  the  concept,  less  abstract  than  the 
latter  but  more  general  than  the  former,  to  which  he  gives 


THE   INTELLECT  65 

the  name  recept.  They  are  complex  ideas  arising  out  of  a 
repetition  of  more  or  less  similar  percepts.  E.g.,  when  a 
parrot,  who  has  learned  to  call  out  bow-wow  when  the  house 
dog  enters  the  room,  also  calls  out  this  word  on  seeing  other 
dogs  of  various  sizes,  colors  and  forms,  he  possesses  an  idea 
which  constitutes  an  advance  on  the  percept,  but  cannot, 
strictly  speaking,  be  called  a  concept.  Every  child  passes 
through  a  receptual  stage,  which  does  not  require  language, 
whereas  the  concept,  properly  so  called,  or  the  active 
synthesis  of  qualities  into  a  class  is  not,  in  his  opinion, 
attained  until  the  child  can  speak. 

Taking  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  word  concept,  which 
includes  what  Romanes  expresses  by  recept,  it  seems  estab- 
lished that  the  formation  of  the  concept  is  prior  to,  and 
in  large  measure  independent  of,  language;  but  it  seems 
equally  clear  that  abstraction  and  generalization  do  not  attain 
to  any  great  degree  of  complexity  without  the  aid  of  speech, 
as  the  observation  of  the  cleverest  deaf-mutes  clearby  shows. 
Even  after  speech  begins,  the  discursive  processes  develop 
but  slowly.  A  boy  of  three  years  did  not  know  the  meaning 
of  "size"  or  "goodness,"  though  long  before  this  he  per- 
fectly understood  the  expression:  "Baby  is  a  good  boy." 
Children  have  very  little  idea  of  number  in  the  first  two 
years.  A  child  of  two  and  a  half  years  confounded 
"naughty"  with  "ugly."  In  short,  we  find  at  this  period 
only  the  lowest  degree  of  abstraction. 

The  child's  first  generalizations  are  very  inaccurate. 
Even  when  he  begins  to  talk  and  to  use  general  names,  he 
does  not  use  them  in  the  same  sense  as  the  adult.  His 
generalizations  are  apt  to  be  too  wide.  "Logic  in  the  child 
naturally  operates  with  much  more  extensive  and  less 
intensive  notions  than  in  adults.  Hence  he  is  very  liable 
to  illusion,  not  through  stupidity,  but  simply  through  igno- 
rance, arising  out  of  lack  of  experience."     After  having  held 


66  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

out  grass  to  a  sheep,  he  also  offers  some  to  the  birds,  and 
in  this  he  is  acting  with  perfect  consistency,  within  the 
range  of  his  knowledge.  He  extends  the  term  papa  to  other 
men,  the  word  atta  or  peudu  (perdu)  to  all  sorts  of  disappear- 
ances ;  he  makes  the  word  quack-quack  apply  not  only  to  a 
duck,  but  to  the  water  on  which  the  duck  swims,  then  to  all 
birds  and  insects,  then  to  all  fluids,  and  finally  to  all  coins, 
because  he  had  seen  the  picture  of  an  eagle  on  a  French 
sou.  He  includes  an  eye-glass  in  the  concept  bon  dieu 
(blessed  medal),  and  the  steamboat,  coffee-pot,  and  all  hiss- 
ing, noisy  objects,  in  the  class  fafer  (chemin  de  fer,  locomo- 
tive). A  little  girl  of  eighteen  months  had  been  amused  by 
her  mother  hiding  in  play,  and  saying  coucou.  She  had  also 
been  warned  to  keep  out  of  the  hot  sun,  by  the  words  ca 
brule.  One  day,  on  seeing  the  sun  disappear  behind  a  hill, 
she  put  these  two  ideas  together  and  exclaimed  a  bide 
coucou.  Another  child  of  the  same  age  applied  the  name 
no-no  to  all  eye-glasses,  because  she  had  been  forbidden  to 
snatch  off  her  nurse's  glasses  by  the  words  no-no.  Taine 
believes  the  characteristic  mark,  distinguishing  the  child 
from  the  lower  animal,  is  this  very  capacity  of  detecting 
resemblances  amid  differences,  which  leads  him  to  extend, 
to  such  a  surprising  degree,  the  denotation  of  the  term. 
Not  only  does  he  apply  the  word  bow-wow  to  the  terriers, 
mastiffs  and  Newfoundlands  which  he  meets  in  the  street, 
but  a  little  later  he  does  what  an  animal  never  does,  he 
says  bow-wow  to  a  pasteboard  dog  that  barks  when  squeezed, 
then  to  a  pasteboard  dog  which  does  not  bark,  but  runs  on 
wheels,  then  to  the  bronze  dogs  which  ornament  the  drawing- 
room,  then  to  his  little  cousin,  who  runs  about  the  room 
on  all  fours,  then,  at  last,  to  a  picture  representing  a 
dog. 

Children's  notions  of  things  are  chiefly  connected  with 
their  uses  or  actions.     M.  Binet  gives  a  large  number  of  in- 


THE    [NTELLECT  07 

teresting  definitions  of  things  given  by  children,  from  which 
I  select  the  following:  "  Un  couteau,  c'est  pour  coupe r 
la  viande."  "  Un  cheval,  c'est  pour  trainer  une  voiture, 
avec  un  monsieur  dedans."  "  Une  lampe,  c'est  pour  allumer, 
pour  qu'on  voie  clair  dans  la  chambre."  "  Un  crayon,  c'est 
pour  ecrire."  "  Un  chapeau,  c'est  pour  mettre  sur  la  tete." 
(Note  the  frequency  of  the  "  pour.") 

Judgment  is  involved,  in  a  rudimentary  form,  in  concep- 
tion, and  even  in  perception,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  fore- 
going examples.  When  a  child  at  two  months  recognizes 
his  parents  ;  at  three  and  a  half  months  turns  round  to  the 
cage  on  hearing  the  word  coco;  "  comes  to  meet "  the  spoon 
with  his  mouth  when  being  fed;  at  seven  months  turns  his 
head  around  to  the  left  when  an  object  is  carried  so  far  be- 
hind him  that  he  can  no  longer  see  it  by  turning  to  the  right ; 
at  eight  months  recognizes  a  pictorial  representation  ;  and 
cries  for  Gourlay  water,  which  is  white  and  opaque,  though 
not  for  ordinary  water ;  in  the  tenth  month  gives  evidence 
of  the  knowledge  that  bodies  have  weight ;  and  shows  by 
unmistakable  signs  that  he  misses  his  absent  parents,  and 
even  knows  when  a  single  nine-pin  is  removed  from  his  set, 
— we  cannot  doubt  that  he  is  performing  an  act  of  judg- 
ment. These  primitive  judgments  are  mostly  concrete  and 
particular,  abstract  and  general  judgments  being  a  later 
attainment.  Children  of  eighteen  months  will  recognize 
the  pictures  of  all  the  more  familiar  animals,  and  respond 
with  the  appropriate  sounds,  bow-iooio,  moo,  etc.  The  spoken 
judgment  arises  when  an  object  arouses  an  idea  in  the 
child's  mind,  to  which  idea  he  attaches  a  name,  recognizing 
it  as  connected  with  the  object.  The  first  spoken  judgment 
does  not  then  require  two  words,  as  Taine  seems  to  thiuk, 
but  usually  consists  of  one  word,  which  does  duty  for  a 
whole   sentence.      When   Preyer's   boy    said   "  heiss,"   the 


68  THE    PSYCHOLOGY   OF    CHILDHOOD 

meaning  was,  "This  food  is  too  hot."  And  when  the 
child  G.  looking  out  of  the  window,  said  "  doggie,"  he  in- 
terpreted his  sensations  as  having  the  meaning  "  dog." 

Weakness  of  the  Judgment.  —  Normal  children,  with 
the  progress  of  their  mental  development,  continually  learn 
to  construct  more  and  more  difficult  judgments.  The  case 
is  otherwise  with  weak-minded  children.  In  proportion  to 
the  degree  of  mental  weakness,  these  children  always  re- 
main poorly  furnished  with  ideas  and  concepts,  in  spite 
of  the  greatest  efforts  on  the  part  of  their  teachers.  In  con- 
sequence of  this,  such  children  are  seldom  or  never  able  to 
construct  accurate  judgments ;  they  suffer  from  judgment- 
weakness. 

Reasoning.  —  When  the  little  boy  R.  was  four  months 
old,  he  was  playing  one  day  on  the  floor  surrounded  by  his 
toys.  One  toy  rolled  away  beyond  his  reach.  He  seized  a 
clothes-pin  and  used  that  as  a  "  rake  "  with  which  to  draw 
the  toy  within  reach  of  his  hand.  Mr.  Darwin  laid  his 
finger  on  the  palm  of  a  child  five  months  old.  The  child 
closed  his  fingers  around  it,  and  carried  it  to  his  mouth. 
When  he  found  that  he  was  hindered  from  sucking  it,  by 
his  own  fingers  getting  in  the  way,  he  loosened  his  grasp 
and  took  a  new  hold  farther  down,  then  vigorously  sucked 
the  finger.  A  boy  of  eight  months  took  a  watch,  which  was 
offered  him,  and  after  biting  on  it  with  evident  satisfaction, 
tried  to  break  a  piece  off,  as  he  would  from  a  cracker.  At 
thirteen  months,  a  child  who  noticed  the  resemblance  be- 
tween two  men,  inferred  certain  acts  on  the  part  of  the  one, 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  see  in  the  other. 

The  boy  C,  when  fourteen  months  old,  was  one  day  feed- 
ing the  dog  with  crackers,  when  the  supply  ran  out.  He 
immediately  "  crept  to  the  sideboard,  opened  the  left-hand 


THE   INTELLECT  69 

door,  pulled  himself  up  by  the  shelf,  and  helped  himself 
out  of  the  box  in  which  they  were  kept."  He  had  seen 
crackers  taken  from  this  box  before,  but  had  never  done  it 
himself.  He  was  observed  to  feel  his  own  ears,  and  then 
his  mother's,  one  day  when  looking  at  pictures  of  rabbits. 
One  day,  when  eighteen  months  old,  he  came  in  from  play- 
ing on  the  lawn,  quite  hot  and  somewhat  dirty.  He  at  once 
ran  to  his  mother,  holding  up  his  dirty  dress  with  a  gesture 
of  disgust ;  then  ran  to  the  drawer  where  his  clean  clothes 
were  kept,  and  tugged  at  it  with  all  his  might.  Another 
boy  of  the  same  age,  both  of  whose  hands  were  filled  with 
toys,  wishing  to  grasp  still  another,  quickly  put  one  of  them 
between  his  knees.  A  little  girl  of  this  age  used  to  feign 
sleep  until  the  nurse  left  the  room,  when  she  would  immedi- 
ately resume  her  interrupted  romps.  Tiedemann's  boy,  at 
two  years  of  age,  used  to  employ  cunning  to  accomplish 
his  purposes.  The  little  girl  F.,  at  a  year  and  a  half,  fur- 
nished a  good  example  of  reasoning  by  analogy.  She  had 
been  shown  the  pictures  in  a  book  with  red  binding.  She 
afterwards  went  to  the  bookcase  and  took  down  two  other 
books  having  red  binding,  and  looked  through  them,  evi- 
dently expecting  to  find  pictures  in  them  also.  One  day 
when  I  rose  to  take  my  leave,  she  patted  vigorously  on  the 
cushion  of  a  chair,  and  then  pulled  at  my  coat  to  induce  me 
to  prolong  my  stay. 

From  about  the  end  of  the  second  year,  the  reasoning 
power  in  most  children  makes  such  rapid  progress  that  it  is 
impossible  to  set  down  all  the  examples  that  are  to  hand. 
I  content  myself  with  one  more.  A  boy  of  two  years  was 
quite  familiar  with  the  articles  of  his  food  by  name,  and 
when  the  word  milk  was  spoken  in  his  hearing,  he  clamored 
for  a  share  of  that  article.  His  mother  hit  upon  the  device 
of  spelling  the  word,  when  it  was  undesirable  that  his  atten- 
tion should  be  called  to  it.     Before  long,  however,  he  learned 


70  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

to  know  the  word,  even  when  spelled,  and  one  day,  when  his 
mother  asked  for  the  ni-i-l-k,  he  at  once  cried  out,  mickey. 


VI.    The  Idea  of    Self 

The  phenomena  which  accompany  and  indicate  the  gradual 
emergence  into  clear  consciousness,  of  what  Taine  calls  the 
"  unextended  centre,"  the  "  mathematical  point,"  by  relation 
to  which  all  the  "  other "  is  defined,  and  which  each  of  us 
calls  "I,"  or  "me,"  —  the  external  evidences  that  the  child 
is  slowly  but  surely  becoming  "  aware  of  himself  as  a  per- 
manent being,  distinct  from  the  objects  he  knows,  the  feel- 
ings he  experiences,  and  the  ends  he  chooses,"  —  may  be 
conveniently  classified  under  four  heads  : 

1.    The   Child's   Treatment  of    his    own    Body.  —  In 

the  first  weeks  he  will  strike  or  scratch  his  own  face.  One 
boy  bit  his  own  finger  until  he  cried  with  the  pain,  even  in 
the  early  part  of  the  second  year.  In  the  ninth  month  the 
feet  are  still  eagerly  felt  of,  and  the  toes  carried  to  the 
mouth,  the  same  as  foreign  substances.  This  experimenta- 
tion with  his  own  limbs  goes  on  all  through  the  second  and 
in  some  cases  well  on  into  the  third  year.  "In  the  first 
year  the  child's  organism  is  not  known  as  part  of  himself." 
A  boy  of  nineteen  months,  when  asked  to  "  give  the  foot," 
seized  it  with  both  hands,  and  tried  to  hand  it  over. 
A  little  girl,  a  little  over  two  years  old,  used  to  enlarge 
on  a  familiar  ditty  in  the  following  fashion :  "  One  for  papa, 
one  for  mamma,  one  for  toses  (one  for  toes)."  Sigismund 
believes  that  the  child  learns  a  good  deal  about  his  own 
limbs  (and  so  takes  the  first  step  toward  a  knowledge  of 
self)  through  bringing  his  hand  to  his  mouth,  to  ease  the 
pain  of  the  growing  teeth.  The  feeling  is  different  when 
he  chews  his  own  finger  and  that  of  his  nurse.     A  child  of 


THE    INTELLECT  71 

four  or  five  months  studies  his  own  fingers  attentively. 
When  one  hand  accidentally  grasps  the  other,  he  looks  at- 
tentively at  both.  Lying  on  his  back,  he  gazes  at  his  legs 
stretched  up  in  the  air. 

Closely  connected  with  this  is  the  child's  evident  delight 
in  his  own  activity  and  ability  to  do  things.  Wundt  believes 
the  muscular  sense  plays  a  predominant  rdle  in  the  genesis 
of  self-consciousness,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  power  of  walking  contributes  very  largely 
to  the  growth  of  the  self-idea.  The  feeling  of  power  is  en- 
gendered by  the  discovery  that  he  can  cause  changes  in 
objects.  "  An  extremely  significant  day  in  the  life  of  the 
infant  is  the  one  in  which  he  first  experiences  the  connec- 
tion of  a  movement  executed  by  himself  with  a  sense- 
impression  following  upon  it."  Preyer's  boy,  in  the  fifth 
month,  discovered  that  by  tearing  paper  he  could  produce 
sound  sensations ;  also  by  shaking  a  bunch  of  keys,  opening 
and  closing  a  box  (thirteenth  month),  turning  the  leaves  of 
a  book,  etc.,  and  these  occupations  were  accordingly  carried 
on  with  a  perseverance  astonishing  to  an  adult.  He  experi- 
enced a  genuine  pleasure  in  finding  himself  a  cause. 

2.  The  Child's  Behavior  towards  his  Image  in  the 
Mirror.  —  Darwin's  child  failed  to  interpret  his  reflection 
when  five  months  old,  but  two  months  later  he  had  accom- 
plished it,  and  at  nine  months  had  learned  to  associate  his 
name  with  the  image.  Another  child  at  eight  months  used 
to  look  at  his  reflection  with  wonder  (expressed  by  wide- 
open  eyes  and  immobility).  "  On  being  shown  a  hand  glass, 
he  regards  his  image  with  interest,  smiles  and  tries  to  catch 
it.  He  puts  his  hand  on  the  glass,  and  tries  to  take  hold 
of  the  image's  hand.  Then  he  turns  the  glass  over,  and 
looks  up  in  wonder  at  the  result."  A  similar  perform- 
ance was  gone  through  by  a  boy  of  ten  months ;  and,  six 


72  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

months  later,  he  was  found  one  day  standing  before  the 
glass,  pulling  his  hair,  examining  his  eyes  and  ears,  and 
sticking  out  his  tongue.  Preyer's  boy  did  not  notice  him- 
self in  the  glass  when  three  months  old.  Three  weeks 
later  he  looked  at  it,  but  with  indifference.  Two  weeks 
later  still,  he  regarded  it  with  attention,  and  laughed  at  the 
sight  of  it.  Near  the  end  of  the  sixth  month,  he  stretched 
out  his  hand  towards  it.  In  his  ninth  month  he  grasped  at 
it,  and  seemed  surprised  when  his  hand  came  against  the 
smooth  surface.  At  fourteen  months  he  passed  his  hand 
behind  the  glass,  as  if  searching  for  something.  He  after- 
wards behaved  in  the  same  manner  toward  a  photograph. 
In  the  sixteenth  month  he  made  grimaces  before  the  glass, 
laughing  as  he  did  so.  Two  weeks  later  he  looked  at  him- 
self often  in  the  glass,  with  pleasure  and  evident  vanity. 
At  twenty  months  he  connected  his  own  name  with  the 
image,  and  when  asked,  "  Where  is  Axel  ?  "  would  point  to 
the  reflection.  Another  child  knew  her  image  in  the  glass 
at  twelve  months,  would  point  to  it  and  say  Tatie  (Katie). 
A  little  boy  of  fifteen  months  calls  his  image  Titta,  by 
which  he  means  child  or  doll. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  we  have  those  actions  which  show 
the  beginnings  of  the  Feeling  of  Property,  such  as 
pride  in  personal  appearance,  and  in  adornment,  jealousy 
over  toys,  and  other  things  which  the  child  considers  his 
rights.  A  number  of  examples  will  be  given  later  in 
connection  with  the  emotion  of  jealousy.  As  regards  per- 
sonal adornment,  there  are  very  great  differences  among 
children,  some  taking  great  delight  in  it,  while  others  seem 
to  care  but  little  about  it.  A  little  girl  whom  I  have 
observed  since  her  first  year  seems  very  fond  of  it,  and  will 
spend  hours  in  adorning  herself  with  veils  and  feathers  and 
bracelets,  making  believe  she  is  some  fine  lady.     Whenever 


THE    INTELLECT  73 

her  best  clothes  are  put  on,  or  a  new  hat,  she  is  very  proud 
and  walks  very  straight  and  dignified  indeed. 

4.  Lastly,  we  notice  the  Child's  Use  of  the  Pronoun' 
"  I."  It  is  interesting  to  remember  that,  according  to  the 
opinion  of  some  philologists  (Max  Midler,  for  example),  this 
word  was,  at  the  beginning  of  the  development  of  language, 
a  demonstrative,  meaning  "this  one"  and  was  probably 
accompanied  by  a  gesture,  and  perhaps  further  back  still 
the  gesture  supplied  the  place  of  the  word.  Man  spoke  of 
himself  in  the  third  person  before  he  learned  to  use  the 
first  person.  Just  so  with  the  child.  He  first  calls  himself 
by  his  proper  name,  or  he  uses  the  word  baby,  and  the  in- 
telligent use  of  the  first  personal  pronoun  comes  late  — 
most  observers  put  it  as  late  as  the  third  year.  I  have 
never  heard  a  child  less  than  two  years  old  call  himself  "  I " 
or  "me."  The  chief  difficulty  in  the  way  of  his  doing  so 
is  that  he  never  hears  the  word  applied  to  Mm  by  others. 
This  is  why  he  makes  such  errors  as  "  Take  me  up  on  my 
(meaning  your)  lap." 

The  "  I  "  feeling  is  often  present,  therefore,  before  the 
word  is  used.  The  concept  of  the  self  is  not  generated,  but 
only  rendered  more  exact  and  definite  by  speech.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  must  not  be  presumed  that  the  concept  is 
always  present  where  the  word  is  used.  Children  who  are 
constantly  in  the  society  of  those  who  use  the  word  will  use 
it  also,  merely  by  imitation  in  many  cases,  without  compre- 
hending its  meaning.  A  child  may  say  "I  am  hungry," 
without  any  idea  that  "I"  is  different  from  "hungry." 
Perez  says :  "  When  the  child  learns  to  say  <  I '  or  '  me/ 
instead  of  '  Charles  '  or  '  Paul,'  the  terms  '  I '  or  '  me  '  are 
not  more  abstract  to  him  than  the  proper  names  which  he 
has  been  taught  to  replace  by  'I'  or  'me.'  Both  the  pro- 
nouns and  the  names  equally  express  a  very  distinct  and 


74  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD 

very  concrete  idea  of  individual  personality.  When  a  three, 
year-old  child  says  '  I  want  that,'  it  is  only  a  translation  of 
'  Paid  wants  that/  and  'I,'  like  'Paul/  indicates  neither  the 
first  nor  the  third  person,  but  the  person  who  is  himself,  his 
own  well-known  personality,  which  he  continually  feels  in 
his  emotions  and  actions.  An  abstract  notion  of  personality 
does  not  exist  in  a  young  child's  mind."  In  short,  so 
great  is  the  influence  of  the  environment  here,  that  scarcely 
anything  can  be  asserted  in  a  general  way  of  all  children. 
Some  children  scarcely  ever  hear  the  pronoun  'I.'  The 
members  of  the  family  avoid  it,  and  say  instead :  "  Mamma 
is  busy ; "  "  Sister  is  gone  to  school ;  "  "  Baby  must  be 
good,"  etc. ;  in  such  cases,  the  child  will  of  course  take  a 
long  time  to  acquire  the  word. 

In  many  cases,  me  is  used  before  I.  It  seems  easier,  for 
some  reason.  Sometimes  children  pass  through  a  sort  of 
transition  period,  when  /  is  used  indifferently  with  the 
proper  name,  or  even  with  he.  Binet  says  of  the  little  girl 
he  observed  that  at  three  and  a  half  years  exactly,  she  first 
used  the  word  je,  in  the  sentence  je  ne  sais  pas.  Two  days 
after  she  said  je  ne  veux  pas.  But  long  after  that,  she  made 
many  mistakes  in  the  use  of  the  pronoun.  In  two  other 
children,  the  I  took  the  place  of  the  third  personal  designa- 
tion before  the  end  of  the  third  year,  and  J  preceded  me, 
and  you  was  later  than  either.  Another  child  at  twenty- 
five  months  used  my,  but  not  I. 

Such  are  the  various  factors  entering  into  the  develop- 
ment of  the  child's  self-consciousness,  by  which  "  he  raises 
himself  higher  and  higher  above  the  dependent  condition  of 
the  animal,  so  that  at  last  the  difference  between  animal  and 
human  being  "  attains  such  infinite  magnitude. 


CHAPTER    III 

THE   FEELINGS 

The  principle  of  transformation,  which  is  exemplified  in 
almost  every  fact  recorded  in  the  preceding  chapters,  is  still 
more  clearly  illustrated  in  those  departments  of  the  mental 
life  which  we  have  yet  to  consider.  In  studying  the  emo- 
tional life  of  children,  for  example,  we  shall  observe  that  in 
the  earlier  stages,  when  intellectual  comprehension  (which  is 
essential  to  the  emotions  of  the  grown-up  person)  can  by  no 
means  be  presumed  to  be  present,  yet  the  outward  manifes- 
tation —  movement,  facial  expression,  etc.  —  resembles  very 
closely  that  of  the  adult,  or  the  older  child.  It  seems 
unphilosophical  to  class  the  phenomena  of  these  two  periods 
together  under  a  common  name,  and  our  only  excuse  for 
doing  so  is  that  the  one  shades  off  so  gradually  into  the 
other  that  to  establish  a  rigid  line  of  distinction  seems 
impossible.  We  shall  therefore  consider  both  stages  under 
the  general  head  of  feeling,  with  the  preliminary  remark, 
that  emotion,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  arises  only 
when  the  mental  powers  have  so  far  developed,  that  the 
feeling  is  the  jrroduct  or  outcome  of  thought.  Previous  to 
that  time  the  outward  expression  must  be  looked  upon 
merely  as  the  response  of  the  organism  to  agreeable  or 
disagreeable  conditions.  In  the  case  of  a  genuine  emotion, 
as  above  described,  the  same  physiological  expressions  con- 
tinue to  be  employed,  because  through  habit  they  have 
become  easier  than  any  others,  while  their  employment  in 

75 


76        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

the  first  stage  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  principle  of 
heredity. 

I.   Fear 

These  remarks  are  specially  true  in  the  case  of  fear, 
whose  manifestation  is  at  first  quite  independent  of  thought, 
and  of  specific  experiences,  but  which,  as  a  true  mental 
phenomenon,  requires  both  these  for  its  full  development. 

We  have,  then,  two  stages  of  fear :  first,  the  fear  that  is 
independent  of  hurtful  experiences,  and  must  be  considered 
hereditary ;  and  secondly,  the  fear  that  is  produced  by  a 
mental  image  of  the  danger.  The  former  is  very  marked 
in  the  lower  animals.  When  Spalding  let  loose  a  hawk 
suddenly  over  a  brood  of  young  chickens  in  a  meadow,  they 
immediately  "crouched"  and  hid  themselves  in  the  grass, 
while  the  mother  hen  attacked  the  foe  with  tremendous 
violence,  though  neither  she  nor  her  brood  had  ever  seen  a 
hawk  before.  A  dove,  let  loose  in  the  same  way,  produced 
no  such  result.  So  the  child,  when  only  a  few  weeks  old, 
will  start  and  cry  at  any  sudden  sound  or  strange  sight, 
quite  independently  of  experience.  He  shrinks  from  cats 
and  dogs,  without  ever  having  been  injured  by  them ;  he  is 
afraid  of  falling,  before  he  has  ever  fallen,  and  trembles  at 
the  sight  of  large  and  majestic  objects,  such  as  the  ocean, 
when  he  looks  upon  them  for  the  first  time.  Many  infants 
cry  when  it  thunders,  though  they  do  not  at  all  understand 
what  it  is,  and  experience  a  shock  —  just  as  some  nervous 
adults  do  —  when  a  door  closes  with  a  bang,  or  an  object 
falls  upon  the  floor.  They  contract  all  the  muscles  of 
the  body  nervously  when  suddenly  lowered  through  the 
air  in  the  nurse's  arms.  They  sometimes  shrink  from 
people  dressed  in  black,  and  from  those  who  speak  in  deep 
sepulchral  tones.  A  little  girl  slightly  over  two  months 
old  appeared  terrified  on  beholding  a  distorted  face ;   she 


THE    FEELINGS  77 

cried  out  and  sought  protection  in  her  mother's  arms.  A 
boy  of  seven  months  seemed  afraid  when  a  fan  was  opened 
and  closed  before  him  ;  and  another  at  a  loud  snoring  noise 
which  he  heard  for  the  first  time.  The  boy  G.,  when  about 
a  year  old,  manifested  the  most  abject  terror  at  the  sight 
(and  sound)  of  a  bright  red  humming  top  which  had  been 
bought  for  him.  He  even  refused  for  some  time  to  go  near 
the  spot  where  the  top  had  been.  Up  to  the  present  time 
this  fear  has  abated  very  little,  though  the  top  has  been  for 
more  than  a  year  in  his  home. 

In  this  early  period,  most  children  seem  more  afraid  of 
sounds  than  of  sights.  They  are  usually  afraid  of  thunder, 
but  scarcely  ever  of  lightning.  A  child  who  started  ner- 
vously when  a  box  of  comfits  was  shaken  before  him,  made 
no  such  sign  when  the  empty  box  was  shaken.  One  may 
thrust  with  the  finger,  as  we  have  seen,  quite  close  to  the 
open  eye  of  an  infant,  without  causing  him  to  blink,  while, 
if  one  speaks  to  him  in  a  harsh  or  loud  tone,  he  will  cry. 
A  little  child  has  been  known  to  lie  smiling  in  his  cradle, 
surrounded  by  the  flames  of  a  burning  house  ;  but  when 
rescued,  has  broken  out  into  loud  cries  of  fear  at  the  noise 
of  the  engines  and  the  shouting  of  the  assembled  crowd. 
Little  G.,  when  slightly  over  two  years  of  age,  became  very 
much  frightened  at  the  sound  made  by  a  clock  from  whose 
pendulum  the  weight  had  been  removed,  and  which  was 
rapidly  running  down  with  a  loud  whirring  noise. 

Eye-fear,  however,  soon  develops,  and  strange  sights  as 
well  as  sounds  startle  and  frighten  the  child.  We  have  a 
very  ancient  example  of  this  in  the  Iliad,  where  Hector  is 
described  as  bidding  his  wife  and  child  farewell  before 
going  out  to  the  fight.  When  he  reached  out  his  arms 
for  the  child,  the  latter  cried  out,  and  hid  his  face  in  the 
bosom  of  the  nurse,  frightened  by  his  father's  gleaming 
bronze  and  the  helmet  crested  with  horse-hair.     Siinsmund 


78  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

describes  his  child  as  showing  fear  of  a  sleeve  board,  by 
association  with  the  glowing  "  goose,"  and  also  at  the 
sparks  from  a  blacksmith's  forge.  There  are  also  touch- 
fears.  The  little  girl,  F.,  started  back  when  her  hand  came 
into  contact  with  some  soft  fur.  The  suddenness  of  the 
sensation  apparently  had  more  to  do  with  her  fear  than 
the  quality  of  the  feeling,  for  she  soon  lost  her  fear  of  this 
article. 

According  to  my  observations,  the  fears  of  children  are 
most  commonly  aroused  by  objects  that  are  vast  and  of 
overpowering  aspect,  and  that  emit  loud  sounds,  especially 
when  they  approach  too  near.  In  many  cases,  too,  this  fear 
is  felt  only  when  the  child  is  forced  to  face  the  dreaded 
object  alone.  A  boy  of  two  years,  who  takes  great  delight 
in  going  with  his  father  to  watch  the  passing  trains  from 
the  bottom  of  the  garden,  came  running  to  the  house  one 
day  in  great  fear,  when  a  passing  express  found  him  at  the 
post  of  observation  alone. 

Some  investigations  have  recently  been  made  in  Cali- 
fornia with  a  view  of  determining  wliat  objects  for  the 
most  part  cause  the  fears  of  children.  In  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  the  cases  examined,  the  fear  was  "a  vague, 
haunting  terror  of  the  dark,  of  awful  shapes,  of  something 
I  know  not  what,"  conjured  up,  apparently,  in  the  child's 
imagination.  In  the  remainder  of  the  cases,  the  fear 
was  connected  with  specific  objects,  persons,  animals,  or 
machines,  such  as  the  steam  engine. 

The  plasticity  of  the  child's  nature  renders  him  suscepti- 
ble to  impressions  which,  in  many  cases,  remain  with  him 
through  life.  Fear  of  the  dark,  fear  of  the  woods,  fear 
of  being  alone,  are  often  inculcated  by  unwise  nurses  and 
teachers,  and  remain,  in  some  cases,  ineradicably  fixed  in 
the  constitution.  Mosso  tells  of  an  old  soldier  who,  on 
being  asked  what  had  been  his  greatest  fear,  replied:  "I 


THE   FEELINGS  79 

am  nearly  seventy  years  of  age.  I  have  looked  death  in 
the  face  many  times,  and  never  felt  fear ;  but  whenever  I 
pass  a  little  church  in  the  shadow  of  a  wood,  or  a  deserted 
chapel  in  the  mountains,  I  always  remember  an  abandoned 
oratory  in  my  native  village,  and  am  afraid.  I  look  around, 
as  if  I  were  about  to  see  the  corpse  of  a  murdered  man 
which  I  saw  in  my  infancy,  and  with  which  an  old  servant 
threatened  to  shut  me  up  in  order  to  quiet  me." 

The  child  from  three  to  seven  years  is  very  liable  to  have 
dreams  of  exceeding  vividness,  and  if  he  wakes  suddenly 
out  of  a  deep  sleep,  his  face  will  often  bear  signs  of  great 
fear,  as  though  he  saw  an  apparition.  The  eyes  stare 
straight  ahead,  he  fails  to  recognize  persons,  he  breaks  out 
into  perspiration,  his  heart  beats  hard  and  his  limbs  trem- 
ble. These  nocturnal  fears  may  become  so  strong  as  to 
cause  veritable  attacks  of  epilepsy. 

Sometimes  a  new  fear  is  developed  by  sickness.  Some 
children  seem  morbidly  timid  and  fearful,  while  others 
seldom  show  signs  of  fear  in  any  form.  As  the  child's 
education  progresses,  his  fear  increases  in  some  directions, 
and  decreases  in  others ;  as  he  learns,  on  the  one  hand, 
that  certain  objects  which  he  supposed  harmless  are  really 
harmful,  and  on  the  other,  that  some  which  he  at  first 
esteemed  dangerous  will  do  him  no  injury.  In  other 
words,  it  is  only  a  commonplace  to  say  that  fear  is  both 
increased  and  diminished  by  advancing  knowledge.  The 
man  is  more  afraid  of  a  loaded  pistol,  and  less  afraid  of  an 
empty  one,  than  the  child. 

II.   Anger 

Anger  is  evil  only  in  its  abuse.  In  a  moderate  degree, 
it  is  the  index  of  a  just  and  sensitive  temperament,  and 
a  force  which  education  should  direct  and  not  annihilate. 


80  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

"  In  my  opinion,"  says  Perez,  "  a  child  of  ten  months  who 
does  not  weep  or  cry  at  least  four  or  five  times  a  day, 
who  is  not  amused,  and  who  is  not  irritated,  like  a  savage, 
or  a  young  animal,  by  a  mere  trifle  ("  pour  une  bagatelle  "), 
is  lacking  in  sensibility  and  in  intelligence,  and  will,  no 
doubt,  be  lacking  in  character, — bury  him;  he  is  dead." 
"  It  is  necessary,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  speaking  of  the  edu- 
cation of  the  child  in  this  regard,  "  to  surround  the  cradle 
with  an  atmosphere  of  sweet  serenity,  but  it  is  not  always 
necessary  to  hide  anger.  Just  anger  should  be  shown,  but 
with  moderation." 

It  is  difficult  to  say  when  the  child  first  feels  anger, 
because  its  outward  signs  are  at  first  very  easily  confounded 
with  those  of  pain  or  distress.  Mr.  Sully  thought  he  saw 
manifestations  of  anger  at  the  very  outset  of  life,  in  a  little 
girl  who,  "  in  refusing  to  accept  the  nutriment  provided  by 
nature,  showed  all  the  signs  of  passionate  wrath."  Mr. 
Darwin  noticed,  in  a  child  eight  days  old,  frowning  and 
wrinkling  of  the  skin  around  the  eyes  before  crying ;  but  he 
adds,  "  this  may  have  been  pain  and  not  anger."  In  the 
third  month,  he  thought  he  observed  signs  of  real  anger,  and 
in  the  fourth  month  he  had  no  doubt  about  it,  for  the  blood 
rushed  into  the  face  and  scalp.  Tiedemann's  son  gave  evi- 
dence of  anger  in  the  second  month  by  actively  pushing  away 
the  disagreeable  object.  By  the  eighth  month,  he  was  quite 
capable  of  violent  anger  and  jealousy.  Perez  believes  he 
has  seen  signs  of  impatience  at  the  end  of  the  first  month, 
if  not  earlier ;  and,  in  the  second  month,  real  fits  of  passion, 
pushing  away  distasteful  objects,  frowning,  reddening,  trem- 
bling, and  weeping.  At  six  months,  children  will  scream 
if  their  toys  are  taken  away,  and  towards  the  end  of  the 
first  year,  anger  sometimes  exhibits  itself  in  revengeful 
actions  hurtful  to  themselves,  such  as  beating  a  chair,  etc. 
A   child   of   seven   months  screamed  with  rage  because  a 


THE    FEELINGS  81 

lemon  slipped  out  of  his  hand;  and  at  eleven  months,  if 
a  wrong  plaything  were  given  him,  he  would  push  it  away 
and  beat  it. 

Up  to  a  certain  age,  almost  all  children  are  exceedingly- 
irascible,  and  1  know  of  no  particular  in  which  the  familiar 
analogy  of  the  child  to  the  savage  is  more  strikingly  shown. 
The  child's  will  and  reason  are  weak,  his  passions  are  st  rong, 
comparatively  speaking,  and  he  is  ruled  by  his  feelings.  So 
it  is  with  savage  races.  They  are  proverbially  passionate; 
and  the  progressive  effects  of  civilization  upon  a  race,  lead- 
ing them  gradually  to  control  the  impetuous  and  unreason- 
able rage  which  characterized  the  earlier  stages  of  their 
civilization,  is  strikingly  analogous  to  the  wise  training  of 
the  human  being  from  the  irascibility  of  the  child  to  the 
calmness  and  moderation  of  the  educated  man. 


III.    Surprise,  Astonishment,  Curiosity 

Surprise  and  astonishment  are  closely  related  to  fear,  not 
only  in  childhood,  but  in  all  our  life.  Novelty  of  impres- 
sion and  failure  to  understand  are  the  prolific  causes  of 
wonder,  as  well  as  of  fear.  And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  wonder  requires  and  presup- 
poses a  certain  amount  of  knowledge.  If  I  knew  absolutely 
nothing  about  crows,  the  sight  of  a  white  crow  would  cause 
me  no  more  surprise  than  the  sight  of  a  black  one.  This 
explains  the  fact  that  little  children  often  fail  to  manifest 
surprise  where  we  expect  them  to  do  so.  They  fail  to  be 
astonished  at  what  happens,  simply  because,  being  totally 
ignorant  in  regard  to  the  matter  in  hand,  they  have  no 
preconceived  ideas  as  to  what  ought  to  happen,  and  do 
not,  therefore,  expect  any  one  thing  more  than  any  other. 
Accordingly,  that  which  actually  happens  is  taken  as  a 
matter  of  course. 


82  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

Surprise  and  astonishment  are  not  identical.  The  former 
may  be  described  as  an  active  state,  the  latter  as  a  passive 
one.  The  child  who  is  only  surprised  maintains  control  of 
his  muscles,  and  examines  the  strange  object  with  the  closest 
attention,  while  the  astonished  child  suddenly  loses  voli- 
tional control,  and  remains  fixed  in  the  attitude  in  which 
the  strange  impression  overtook  him,  with  wide-open  mouth 
and  eyes.  In  the  one  case  there  is  activity  and  movement, 
in  the  other  a  sort  of  paralysis. 

The  germ  of  surprise  has  been  observed  in  children  less 
than  a  month  old,  who  may  be  seen  to  stare  at  their  own 
fingers,  with  great  attention,  as  though  having  noticed  them 
for  the  first  time.  From  this  time  onward,  wonder  is  con- 
stantly manifested  at  pictures  on  the  wall,  sunbeams  dancing 
on  the  floor,  the  fire  crackling  on  the  hearth,  and  especially 
at  the  movements  of  animate  beings.  The  infant  gazes  long 
and  steadily  at  these  strange  phenomena.  A  little  girl  of 
less  than  a  month,  on  being  taken  downstairs  into  new  quar- 
ters, stared  around  in  great  wonder  for  a  time,  but  this  soon 
passed  away. 

Astonishment  makes  its  appearance  later.  When  six 
months  old,  Preyer's  child  manifested  astonishment  at  the 
sudden  and  unexpected  appearance  of  his  father  ;  and  a  lit- 
tle later  at  the  sight  of  a  stranger  in  his  room.  The  child's 
eyes  opened  wide,  his  jaw  dropped,  and  his  body  became 
motionless.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  peculiar  manner 
of  expressing  this  emotion,  as  well  as  most  of  the  others,  is 
entirely  original  with  the  child  himself.  He  expresses  aston- 
ishment in  this  way  before  he  has  had  any  opportunity  of 
imitating  the  gestures  of  others.  These  gestures,  therefore, 
must  be  the  result  of  instinctive  tendencies,  which,  by  virtue 
of  heredity,  have  become  fixed  in  the  human  race,  as  they 
are  everywhere  the  same. 

Closely  allied  to  the  sentiment  of  wonder  is  that  of  curi- 


THE    FEELINGS  83 

osity.  This  is  a  natural,  spontaneous  tendency,  which  might 
perhaps  be  more  fittingly  classed  under  the  head  of  intellect 
but  for  the  fact  that,  in  the  very  young  child,  its  essential 
character  is  feeling.  It  consists  of  a  sort  of  chronic  hunger 
for  new  sensations,  which  impels  the  child  constantly  to 
handle,  examine,  taste,  and  otherwise  experiment  upon  all 
objects  that  come  within  his  reach.  The  little  boy,  R.,  used 
to  try  to  untie  every  parcel  that  was  brought  in.  It  is  a 
purely  sensuous  impulse  at  first,  but  with  the  expansion  of 
the  intellect  it  is  transformed  into  the  pure  desire  to  know. 
It  permeates  the  play  of  the  child,  which,  as  Sigismund 
says,  is  like  the  experimentation  of  the  scientist,  by  which 
he  elicits  from  nature  the  answers  to  his  questions.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  powerful  factors  in  the  child's  development, 
and  should  be  guided  into  right  channels,  rather  than  dis- 
couraged, by  the  educator. 

Tiedemann  believed  curiosity  was  developed  in  his  son  in 
his  second  month;  the  eyes  made  an  effort  to  follow  a  new 
or  curious  object.  Perez  saw  evidences  of  curiosity  almost 
from  the  beginning,  and  at  two  months  the  child  "  would 
stretch  out  his  hand,  and  turn  his  eyes  and  ears  towards 
objects  affecting  his  senses.  At  three  months  he  would 
seize  objects  within  reach,  and  shake  them  about  to  amuse 
himself."  From  this  time  on,  and  especially  from  the  time 
he  begins  to  walk,  everything  within  reach  becomes  the 
object  of  constant  study.  The  acquisition  of  language  adds 
greatly  to  his  resources  in  this  respect.  "  His  little  voice, 
a  hundred  times  in  an  hour,  expresses  a  desire,  or  asks  a 
question,  and  that,  not  so  much  through  need  of  knowing 
what  things  are,  ...  as  through  the  appetite  for  fresh  and 
new  sensations.  So  powerful  does  this  impulse  become 
that  sometimes  the  child  is  sad,  or  even  sick,  if  it  be  not 
gratified." 

M.  Taine  calls  attention  to  the  significant  circumstance 


84  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OP   CHILDHOOD 

that  this  curiosity,  which  is  so  powerful  a  force  in  child 
life,  is  not  found  in  the  lower  animals.  "  Any  one  may 
observe  that  from  the  fifth  or  sixth  month,  children  employ 
their  whole  time  for  two  years  or  more  in  making  physical 
experiments.  No  animal,  not  even  the  cat  or  dog,  makes 
this  constant  study  of  all  bodies  within  its  reach.  All  day 
long  the  child  of  whom  I  speak  —  twelve  months  old  — 
touches,  feels,  turns  about,  lets  drop,  tastes,  and  experi- 
ments upon,  everything  she  gets  hold  of,  whatever  it  may 
be  —  ball,  doll,  coral,  or  plaything.  When  once  it  is  suffi- 
ciently known,  she  throws  it  aside ;  it  is  no  longer  new ;  she 
has  nothing  further  to  learn  from  it,  and  so  has  no  further 
interest  in  it."  x  It  will  be  noticed  here  that  Taine  assigns 
a  larger  part  to  the  intellectual  than  does  Perez.  He  says 
physical  need  and  greediness  count  for  nothing.  It  is  pure 
curiosity.  "  It  seems  as  if,  in  her  little  brain,  every  group 
of  perceptions  was  tending  to  complete  itself,  as  in  that  of 
a  child  who  makes  use  of  language."  But  the  little  girl 
observed  by  Taine  was  a  year  old,  and  by  that  time,  no 
doubt,  curiosity  was  beginning  to  assume  more  of  an  intel- 
lectual character. 

IV.   ^Esthetic  Feelings 

As  early  as  the  forty-fifth  day,  Mr.  Darwin  noticed  a  real 
smile  of  pleasure,  "  which  must  have  had  a  mental  origin." 
It  was  observed  when  the  infant  was  looking  at  his  mother, 
and  also  during  the  act  of  nursing;  and  was  quite  different 
from  the  so-called  smiles  which  had  been  seen  prior  to  that 
time,  in  being  accompanied  by  a  more  intelligent  expres- 
sion, and  by  the  sparkling  and  "  swimming  "  of  the  eyes. 

It  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  every  laugh  of  the  young 
child  proceeds  from  a  comprehension  of  the  humorous.     The 

l"Mind,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  252. 


THE    FEELINGS  85 

first  laugh  is  probably  —  like  the  first  vocal  utterances  — 
only  the  spontaneous  functioning  of  the  organism.  Yet  it 
is  maintained  by  careful  observers  that  the  sense  of  fun  is 
present,  in  some  children  three  months  old.  About  this  age 
they  may  be  greatly  amused  by  such  little  games  as  throw- 
ing a  pinafore  over  the  head  and  suddenly  withdrawing  it, 
and  by  the  familiar  gambols  of  hide-and-peek.  Later  they 
show  great  pleasure  at  being  carried  on  one's  shoulder, 
swung  about  in  the  air,  or  tossed  up  to  the  ceiling.  They 
laugh  most  heartily  while  the  fun  lasts,  and  are  very  unwill- 
ing that  it  should  stop. 

Something  has  already  been  said  on  the  subject  of  musical 
appreciation  in  children.  Mr.  Darwin,  who  observed  in  his 
child  a  fondness  for  the  piano  as  early  as  the  fourth  month, 
considers  the  feeling  of  pleasure  in  music  as  the  first  of  the 
aesthetic  sentiments,  unless  the  appreciation  of  bright  colors 
comes  earlier.  Another  child,  at  five  months,  showed  signs 
of  pleasure  when  singing  was  going  on,  and  even  kept  a  sort 
of  time  with  his  body,  but  was  indifferent  to  whistling. 
Another  observer  places  the  pleasure  in  musical  sounds  as 
early  as  the  second  month,  and  in  another  case  the  child  was 
observed  at  eleven  weeks  to  pucker  up  his  lip  a  little  when 
the  piano  was  being  played.  I  have  frequently  observed 
this  fondness  for  music  at  a  later  age,  when  the  child  will 
crowd  close  to  the  piano,  and  show  his  appreciation  by 
rocking  his  body  to  and  fro.  Appreciation  of  expression  in 
music  is,  however,  almost  entirely  lacking  at  this  time,  and 
requires  education  to  develop  it. 

Sense  of  Material  Beauty.  —  The  child  at  first  con- 
fuses the  beatitiful  with  what  is  pleasant.  Animated  move- 
ment at  the  sight  of  beautiful  things  is  at  first,  no  doubt, 
only  response  to  pleasant  feeling.  There  is  no  understand- 
ing of  form,  color,  etc.,  as  beautiful  or  otherwise.     This 


86  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF    CHILDHOOD 

pleasure  in  certain  sensations,  however,  is  one  of  the  foun- 
dation stones  upon  which  the  aesthetic  sense  of  material 
beauty  is  afterwards  to  be  built.  From  about  the  eighth 
month,  there  have  been  observed  the  beginnings  of  this 
feeling  in  the  pleasure  shown  by  the  child  in  personal 
adornment.  But  even  now  the  aesthetic  and  the  sensuous 
are  blended  in  the  pleasure  a  child  feels  in  the  new  dress 
or  hat.  "  Pretty  "  and  "  good  "  are  interchangeable  terms  in 
his  mind.  At  thirteen  months  he  will  snatch  at  haphazard 
among  a  heap  of  toys,  seeming  not  to  discriminate  at  all 
among  them  as  to  beauty;  and,  at  a  much  later  period, 
a  child  taken  out  to  the  country  gives  no  evidence  of  any 
appreciation  of  the  beauties  of  the  landscape,  but  is  attracted 
rather  by  some  new  or  strange  object  —  especially  if  it  be 
an  animal,  or  something  that  moves.  Symmetry  in  form 
and  harmony  in  colors  make  but  little  impression  on  him. 
Here,  as  in  music,  he  demands  quantity  rather  than  quality, 
movement  rather  than  expression.  Yet  these  words  must 
not  be  understood  as  denying  to  the  young  child  all  aesthetic 
feeling.  Beautiful  objects,  if  they  are  not  too  large,  nor  too 
distant,  please  him.  He  is  charmed  by  the  pretty  butterfly 
and  the  pretty  flower ;  he  is  greatly  attracted  by  the  human 
face,  and  by  the  expression  of  the  human  eye. 

The  dramatic  instinct  is  very  strong  in  childhood,  though 
stronger  and  earlier  in  some  children  than  in  others.  Chil- 
dren are  born  actors.  Their  lively  imagination  and  strong 
hereditary  tendency  to  imitation  lead  them,  even  before  the 
first  year  of  their  life  has  gone,  to  perform  many  curious 
movements  and  gestures.  In  their  plays,  children  con- 
stantly personify,  represent,  dramatize,  assume  characters, 
and  assign  fictitious  characters  to  other  persons  and  things. 
An  eminent  teacher  in  Toronto  assures  me  that  his  three 
children,  in  their  play,  almost  always  address  each  other  by 
assumed  names,  and  the  play  is  carried  on  in  make-believe 


THE   PEELINGS  87 

characters,  which  are  dropped  as  soon  as  the  game  is  over, 
and  never  referred  to  at  any  other  time. 

V.   Love,  Sympathy,  ktc. 

If  we  may  judge  by  the  smiles  which  an  infant  bestows 
upon  those  who  have  charge  of  him,  affection  for  persons 
arises  very  early.  These  smiles  have  been  observed  before 
the  end  of  the  second  month,  and  even  at  a  much  earlier 
period.  The  earliest  smiles  are  probably  automatic,  as 
already  said,  but  by  the  end  of  the  fourth  month  there  is  no 
longer  any  doubt  that  persons  are  recognized.  A  little  boy 
of  this  age  was  observed  to  lift  up  both  arms  towards  his 
parents,  "  with  an  indescribable  expression  of  longing."  A 
girl  of  the  same  age  used  to  be  fond  of  lying  beside  her 
sister,  their  faces  touching.  After  her  sister  died  (she  was 
then  rive  months  old),  she  seemed  very  lonely,  and  when 
she  met  other  children  of  her  own  age,  she  would  greet  them 
with  smiles  and  kisses.  In  another  case  visible  signs  of 
affection  for  persons  whom  he  knew,  were  shown  by  a  boy 
eight  months  old,  and  another  boy,  who,  when  nine  months 
old,  used  to  return  his  father's  caresses  by  a  charming  smile 
and  gentle  stroking  of  his  father's  face,  had  grown  very 
affectionate  and  sympathetic  by  the  time  he  was  fourteen 
months  old,  and  bestowed  his  caresses  in  abundance,  not 
only  on  his  parents  and  friends,  but  on  the  cat  and  dog 
also.  Spontaneous  expression  of  affection  is,  in  many  cases, 
indeed,  first  shown  about  the  beginning  of  the  second  year. 
One  child  of  this  age  kissed  his  nurse  repeatedly  on  her 
return  from  a  short  absence,  and  another  was  in  the  habil 
of  showing  his  affection  for  certain  persons  by  gently  lay- 
ing his  hand  upon  their  faces  or  shoulders.  Affection  for 
animals,  and  even  for  inanimate  objects,  is  also  very  strong 
in  many  children  of  this  age.    The  little  boy,  E.,  was  remark- 


88  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

ably  attached  to  an  old  scarf  of  soft  wool  and  to  a  couple 
of  rag  dolls.  He  would  not  go  to  sleep  without  thern,  but 
would  lie  in  his  cradle  and  call  for  them  until  they  were 
brought,  when  he  would  hug  them  up  in  his  arms,  and  fall 
asleep  chattering  and  cooing  to  them  in  a  charming  manner. 
When  he  got  into  trouble,  especially  if  his  mother  punished 
him,  he  would  run  and  bury  his  face  in  the  old  scarf,  and 
weep  out  his  childish  sorrows  into  its  sympathetic  folds. 

The  memory  of  the  little  child  is  comparatively  weak, 
and  his  experience  short ;  and  hence,  though  capable  of 
strong  affection,  that  affection  does  not  persist  long  in  the 
absence  of  its  object.  "  Out  of  sight,- out  of  mind,"  is  true 
in  the  case  of  the  child  during  his  first  year,  and  relatively 
true  to  a  much  later  period.  He  is  incapable  of  "  homesick- 
ness," with  all  its  suffering,  simply  because  he  is  unable  as 
yet  to  form  mental  pictures  of  home  and  friends  who  are 
absent.  He  lives  in  the  present  rather  than  the  past,  in 
the  realm  of  sense  rather  than  that  of  memory.  For  the 
same  reason,  his  love  for  persons  and  places  is  very  plastic, 
and  may  be  moulded  and  directed  into  almost  any  desired 
channel  during  these  early  months  and  years ;  hence  the 
responsibility  resting  on  those  who  are  intrusted  with  his 
earliest  education  in  home  and  school. 

There  are  two  reasons  why  sympathy  as  a  characteristic  of 
childhood  should  be,  during  the  first  few  months,  so  weak  as 
to  be  almost  entirely  lacking.  The  first  is  that  the  child's 
life  at  this  time  is  so  full  of  his  own  personal  needs  that  he 
can  pay  but  little  attention  to  those  of  others ;  the  second, 
that  he  is  as  yet  unable  to  comprehend  the  outward  signs  of 
feeling  in  others,  because  of  the  shortness  of  his  own  experi- 
ence. It  seems  probable  that  some  of  the  earliest  manifes- 
tations of  apparently  sympathetic  feeling  may  be  merely 
the  result  of  sensori-motor  suggestion.  Sigismund  noticed 
the  first  signs  of  sympathy  at  the  end  of  the  first  three 


THE   FEELINGS  89 

months,  but  Tiedemann  says  his  boy,  when  only  two  months 
old,  made  sympathetic  responses  when  consoled  by  the  usual 
vocal  expressions.  Mr.  Sully  has  observed  the  same  thing. 
In  another  case  a  boy  six  months  old  drew  a  melancholy 
face,  with  mouth  depressed,  when  his  nurse  pretended  to 
cry.  At  seven  months,  another  child  manifested  decided 
altruism,  and  seemed  desirous  of  sharing  his  pleasures  — 
with  the  exception  of  food  —  with  others.  In  another  case 
a  child  of  eight  months  cried  when  some  one  pretended  to 
whip  his  nurse,  and  another  child  of  nearly  the  same  age 
made  a  mournful  whining  noise,  accompanied  by  the  facial 
expression  of  "  crying,"  on  hearing  another  child  cry,  and 
also  when  a  minor  chord  was  struck  on  the  piano.  During 
the  second  year,  sympathy  becomes  so  strongly  established 
that  its  outward  evidences  are  sometimes  seen,  even  on 
occasion  of  the  imaginary  sufferings  of  inanimate  objects, 
and  pictorial  representation  of  suffering.  A  child  of  this 
age  cried  when  her  dolly  was  "hurt."  Sympathy  with 
human  beings  is,  however,  usually  much  stronger  than  ani- 
mal sympathy.  A  child  of  one  year  who  returned  home 
after  a  short  absence,  took  no  notice  whatever  of  the  cat  or 
dog,  but  at  once  recognized  his  nurse  and  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  with  pleasure.  The  strength  of  human 
sympathy,  and  the  need  of  it  in  the  child,  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  when  he  is  hurt,  he  rarely  cries,  unless  there  is  some 
one  near  at  hand  to  hear  him. 

If  we  speak  of  a  little  child  as  naturally  selfish  and 
egotistic,  it  must  be  with  certain  important  modifications. 
These  terms  cannot  be  applied  to  him  in  the  same  sense  as 
to  an  adult,  because  he  is  not  yet  in  possession  of  those  ideas 
of  property  upon  which  the  existence  of  genuine  selfishness 
depends.  The  words  "mine"  and  "yours"  have  at  the  first 
no  meaning  for  him ;  he  cannot  therefore  be  selfish  in  the 
sense  of  desiring  to  have  what  he  knows  to  belong  to  another. 


90  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

When  a  little  child  grasps  at  a  plaything  in  the  hands  of 
another,  he  is  simply  moved  by  the  overpowering  impulse 
to  seize  and  handle,  which  is  the  outcome  of  natural  curi- 
osity and  muscular  energy.  To  seize  and  handle  things  is 
a  constitutional  need  in  every  normal  child,  and  a  most 
important  factor  in  his  development. 

Out  of  this  germ,  however,  there  develops  at  a  very  early 
age  the  proprietary  instinct,  and,  along  with  it,  the  opposite 
characteristics  of  genuine  selfishness  and  jealousy  on  the 
one  hand,  and  genuine  altruism  and  disinterested  generosity 
on  the  other.  And  it  would  be  untrue  to  say  of  the  average 
child,  that  he  is  wholly  controlled  by  either  one  of  these  pas- 
sions, to  the  exclusion  of  the  other.  An  impartial  diagnosis 
of  his  disposition  will  reveal  both  tendencies.  The  average 
child  develops  strong  evidences  of  jealousy  and  egotism. 
We  are  all  familiar  with  the  stormy  scenes  that  are  enacted 
when  the  child  of  two  or  three  years  of  age  is  called  upon 
to  share  with  a  little  brother  or  sister  those  attentions  which 
up  to  this  time  had  been  bestowed  exclusively  upon  himself. 
There  is  something  exceedingly  pathetic  in  the  genuine  pain 
and  sorrow  of  heart  which  he  experiences  when  he  finds 
himself  compelled  to  submit  to  these  new  and  unwelcome 
conditions. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  average  child  develops  unmistak- 
able evidences  of  a  genuine  altruism.  Any  careful  observer 
of  childhood  may  notice  frequent  outbursts  of  spontaneous 
generosity  and  disinterested  affection,  whose  peculiar  charm 
lies  in  the  very  naivete  and  unconsciousness  with  which  they 
are  manifested.  I  give  one  example.  A  little  boy  of  three 
expressed  a  desire  to  give  some  of  his  toys  to  a  little  crip- 
pled neighbor  child,  who  had  no  playthings.  When  it  was 
suggested  to  him  that  he  might  give  some  of  his  old,  broken 
toys,  he  replied,  "  How  can  the  poor  little  cripple  boy  play 
with  broken  toys,  if  I  can't  ?  " 


THE   FEELINGS  91 

VI.  Disorders  of  Feeling 

To  the  foregoing  account  of  the  different  emotions  among 
healthy  children  we  may  now  add  a  description  of  certain 
disorders  of  emotion  which  make  their  appearance  in  chil- 
dren who  are  not  in  good  health.  We  shall  confine  our  ac- 
count to  pathological  hilarity,  or  exaltation,  pathological 
sadness,  or  depression,  pathological  excitability  or  irritabil- 
ity, and  pathological  fickleness  or  instability  of  moods. 

Cheerfulness  and  exuberance  of  spirits  are  natural  charac- 
teristics of  healthy  children.  The  attempt  to  suppress  their 
hilarity  by  persuasion  and  rebuke  meets  with  only  partial 
success.  Yet  this  healthy  exuberance  of  feeling  does  not 
long  continue  at  the  same  strength ;  fatigue  soon  reduces 
the  normal  child  to  quietness.  However,  in  some  cases  the 
boisterousness  of  the  child  is  so  strong  that  it  cannot  be 
reduced  to  moderation,  even  by  rebukes  and  punishments. 
It  persists  for  a  long  time  without  fatigue.  The  play  of 
countenance  in  such  children  is  characteristic ;  and  they  can 
laugh  by  the  hour  at  the  most  trifling  things.  In  these 
cases  the  hilarity  is  pathological.  It  is  known  by  the  spe- 
cialist in  mental  diseases  as  hyperthumia ;  and  it  constitutes 
the  principal  symptom  of  mania  (See  Chapter  VII.). 

Sadness  is,  properly  speaking,  a  tendency  foreign  to 
childhood.  If,  in  healthy  children,  a  depression  of  spirits 
occurs  through  any  cause,  it  usually  passes  very  quickly 
away.  Children  carry  "  tears  and  laughter  in  the  same 
satchel,"  as  the  saying  goes.  Yet  in  many  children  a  sad 
disposition  shows  itself,  without  external  cause,  and  con- 
tinues for  considerable  time.  Such  children  no  longer  enjoy 
play,  or  take  any  interest  in  their  lessons.  They  suffer 
from  pathological  sadness,  which  in  psychiatry  is  known  as 
dysthumia.  "Where  the  depression  is  less  serious,  a  dull 
gravity  takes  the  place  of  the  normal  hilarity  of  childhood. 


92  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD 

There  is  an  inclination  to  tears  and  to  self -affliction.  Move- 
ment and  facial  expression  betray  an  unmistakable  languor; 
the  voice  is  weak,  and  the  gaze  is  directed  habitually  to  the 
distance.  In  more  serious  cases  the  child  is  motionless  and 
excessively  reserved ;  the  eyes  droop,  the  breathing  is  super- 
ficial and  interrupted  frequently  by  heavy  sighs.  Such  children 
may  even  refuse  all  food,  and  may  have  to  be  fed  by  artificial 
means.  Pathological  depression  is  the  principal  symptom  of 
melancholia,  of  which  we  shall  treat  in  Chapter  VII. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  that  the  excitement  of  tem- 
per, especially  in  children,  is  something  entirely  normal. 
Temper  becomes  pathological  only  when  it  appears  on  the 
slightest  occasion,  and  manifests  itself  with  unusual  strength 
and  persistence ;  it  is  then  spoken  of  as  pathological  irrita- 
bility or  irascibility.  In  children  who  suffer  from  this  condi- 
tion anything  may  cause  an  attack  of  passion,  in  which  they 
scream  violently,  stamp  with  the  feet,  throw  themselves  up- 
on the  ground,  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  all  persuasion,  attack  per- 
sons or  even  things  in  their  rage,  destroy  things,  and  only 
cool  down  when  compelled  to  by  bodily  fatigue.  Patho- 
logical irritability  is  found  most  frequently  in  imbeciles, 
epileptics,  and  neurasthenics ;  it  shows  itself  with  exceeding 
violence  in  epileptics  and  with  unusual  persistence  in 
neurasthenics. 

On  account  of  more  rapid  assimilation  and  more  vigorous 
phantasy,  alterations  of  mood  are  more  rapid  in  children 
than  in  adults.  The  former  pass  more  rapidly  than  the 
latter  from  cheerfulness  to  sadness,  from  complaisancy  to 
sensitiveness,  from  modesty  to  arrogance,  from  geniality  to 
unsociability.  If  the  change  of  mood  is  induced  by  the 
most  insignificant  causes,  or  if  no  cause  can  be  assigned, 
then  we  have  a  pathological  condition,  which  may  be  called 
abnormal  liability  to  moods.  It  appears  almost  exclusively 
in  hysteria,  on  which  account  it  is  designated  "  hysterical 
moodiness." 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   WILL 

We  now  approach  the  most  difficult  as  well  as  the  most 
important  part  of  our  subject :  the  most  difficult,  because  of 
the  exceedingly  complicated  character  of  every  act  of  will ; 
the  most  important,  because  of  the  vast  influence  which 
any  one's  theory  of  volition  must  exert  upon  his  moral  and 
religious  ideas.  Not  only  is  it  true  that "  a  being  is  capable 
of  education  and  morality  in  proportion  as  he  is  capable  of 
will,"  but  it  is  also  true  that  the  most  widely  separated 
views  touching  human  responsibility  and  destiny  have 
grown  out  of  apparently  slight  differences  of  opinion  with 
regard  to  the  nature  and  freedom  of  the  will.  The  follow- 
ing theories  are  quoted  to  show  the  trend  of  contemporary 
opinion  on  the  subject. 

In  Preyer's  view,  the  will  is  called  into  life  by  the  union 
of  two  representations,  viz.:  1st,  that  of  the  end  desired; 
2nd,  that  of  the  movement  necessary  to  attain  the  end. 
The  latter  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  and  at  a  later 
period  is  no  longer  formed,  except  in  the  case  of  new  move- 
ments. The  idea  of  the  end  is  sufficient,  without  that  of  the 
means.     Will,  then,  is  based  upon,  and  grows  out  of,  desire.1 

1  Preyer's  theory  of  the  origin  of  will  is  not,  however,  an  empirical  one, 
as  the  following  quotation  will  show :  "  It  is  an  error  to  think  that  the  will 
arises  from  impressions  in  youth;  .  .  .  a  will  can  never  be  create.!  in  a 
child  from  external  experiences;  it  must  be  allowed  to  develop  itself  from 
the  inborn  germ  of  will." 


94  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

In  Guyau's  opinion,  also,  a  complete  act  of  will  involves 
representations  of  two  sorts,  viz. :  Of  the  act  about  to  be 
performed,  and  of  another,  contrary  act,  which  might  have 
been  performed.  Action,  then,  is  the  resultant  of  a  struggle 
among  tendencies.1 

Perez  says  :  "  The  will  is  born  little  by  little  from  reflex, 
impulsive  and  instinctive  movements,  which,  with  the  prog- 
ress of  the  faculties  of  perception  and  ideation,  and  after 
having  been  for  a  long  time  executed  and  varied,  fall 
under  the  action  of  the  attention,  and  become  conscious, 
reflected,  and,  in  a  word,  voluntary."  Will  in  its  negative 
form  (inhibition),  he  holds  to  be  also  a  matter  at  first  of 
mechanism,  unconscious  and  involuntary.  It  is  a  suppres- 
sion, or  at  least  a  reduction,  of  reflex,  impulsive  and  instinc- 
tive movements,  by  the  fact  of  an  excitation  of  the  brain,  a 
sensation.  Thus  arrest  consists  at  first  simply  in  the  sub- 
stitution of  one  tendency  for  another. 

Wundt,  on  the  contrary,  holds  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  purely  reflex  and  involuntary  consciousness  ;  that  activity 
of  attention  is  in  some  degree  present  even  in  movements 
apparently  the  most  mechanical.2 

Professor  James  lays  down,  as  the  distinguishing  mark  of 
voluntary  movements,  an  antecedent  desire  and  intention  to 
perform,  and  consequently  a  full  prevision  of  what  the 
action  is  to  be.  He  therefore  designates  voluntary  move- 
ments as  secondary  functions  of  our  organism,  while  "  reflex, 

^'La  pleine  volonte,  c'est-a-dire  le  de'ploiement  total  des  energies 
interieures,  suppose  qu'a  la  representation  de  Facte  meme  qu'ou  va 
accomplir,  s'associe  la  representation  affaiblie  de  l'acte  contraire.  Et 
ainsi,  nous  arrivons  a  cette  conclusion  :  II  n'y  a  pas  d'acte  pleinement 
voluntaire  ou,  ce  que  revient  au  meme,  pleinement  couscient,  qui  ne 
soit  accompagne  du  sentiment  de  la  victoire  de  certaines  tendances 
interieures  sur  d'autres,  consequemment  d'une  lutte  possible  entre  ces 
tendances,  consequemment  enfin  d'une  lutte  possible  contre  ces  ten- 
dances" (Guyau). 

2  "  Menscben  und  Thierseele." 


THE   WILL  95 

instinctive  and  emotional  movements  are  all  primary  per- 
formances." He  makes  voluntary  movements  depend  on 
memory-images  of  former  involuntary  ones.  "  When  a  par- 
ticular movement,  having  once  occurred  in  a  random,  reflex 
or  involuntary  way,  has  left  an  image  of  itself  in  the  mem- 
ory, then  the  movement  can  be  desired  again,  proposed  as 
an  end,  and  deliberately  willed.  But  it  is  impossible  to  see 
how  it  could  be  willed  before.  A  supply  of  ideas  of  the 
various  movements  that  are  possible,  left  in  the  memory  by 
experiences  of  their  involuntary  performance,  is  thus  the  first 
prerequisite  of  the  voluntary  life. 

It  will  be  seen  that  all  these  views  corroborate  the  posi- 
tion taken  in  the  present  work,  that  mental  phenomena 
undergo  a  process  of  transformation,  in  virtue  of  which, 
from  being  predominantly  physiological,  they  become  pre- 
dominantly psychical.  We  see  now  the  application  of  this 
law  to  movements  or  actions.  The  earliest  child  movements, 
in  the  opinion  of  these  writers,  are  not  voluntary,  but  only 
reflex,  instinctive,  etc.  Intelligent  apprehension  of  the  end 
sought,  and  of  the  means  by  which  that  end  is  to  be  attained, 
has  not  yet  taken  place,  and  we  may  add  that,  until  it  has 
taken  place,  the  movement  is  no  more  entitled  to  be  called  an 
action  than  is  the  swaying  of  a  branch  in  the  breeze,  or  the 
"action"  of  the  piston-shaft  of  a  locomotive.  The  conscious 
subject  must  first  take  hold  of  the  movement,  and  put  him- 
self forth  in  intelligent  direction  of  that  movement  toward 
a  conceived  and  desired  end,  and  then  it  becomes  transformed 
into  an  action.  It  seems  necessary  also,  in  order  to  avoid 
misunderstanding,  to  express  our  dissent  from  the  view  held 
by  some  of  these  writers,  that  the  will  is  a  derived  product, 
or  result  of  mechanical  movements,  a  something  which  has 
been  brought  to  the  birth  by  the  "  travail  together "  of 
accidental  motions  in  an  animal  organism.  It  is  an  obvious 
hysteron  proteron  to  explain  the  rise  of  will  by  means  of 


96  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD 

this  principle  of  transformation,  while  the  only  possible  way 
of  explaining  the  transformation  is  by  positing  voluntary 
activity.  It  is  said,  for  example,  that  will  is  born  (!)  little 
by  little  out  of  reflex  and  instinctive  movements,  which  have 
come  within  the  scope  of  the  attention  ;  and  again  that  will 
is  developed  out  of  the  desire  of  everything  that  has  occa- 
sioned pleasurable  feeling.  Now  both  attention  and  desire, 
as  we  understand  them,  are  impossible  without  volition. 
They  involve  active  direction  of  the  self  toward  the  object, 
and  this  is  volition.  So  far,  then,  from  being  the  ante- 
cedents of  will,  they  are  modes  of  its  manifestation,  and 
instead  of  ascribing  the  birth  of  will  to  the  transformation 
already  spoken  of,  in  virtue  of  which  movements  come 
within  the  scope  of  the  attention,  we  should  more  correctly 
ascribe  the  transformation  to  the  exercise  of  will.  The  will 
is  the  cause  and  not  the  effect  of  the  transformation.  It  is 
correct  enough  to  say  with  Preyer  that  will  is  developed  in 
connection  with  these  movements  and  desires  —  if  by  devel- 
opment is  meant  only  growth  and  not  genesis  —  but  when  it 
is  asserted  that  will  is  generated  out  of  actions  to  which 
attention  and  desire  are  directed,  it  is  only  necessary  to  ask  : 
Out  of  what  are  attention  and  desire  generated  ?  to  reveal  at 
once  the  insufficiency  of  the  explanation. 

This  criticism  is  all  the  more  necessary  here,  because 
Professor  Preyer's  classification  of  child-movements,  —  as 
the  most  scientific  and  exhaustive  yet  made,  —  is  adopted  in 
the  following  pages.  It  can  be  accepted  in  toto,  as  a 
description  and  classification  without  our  subscribing  in  the 
least  to  any  particular  theory  of  will-genesis  that  may  have 
been  founded  upon  it.  The  classification  is  as  follows : 
First,  we  have  a  multitude  of  movements,  not  involving 
peripheral  stimuli,  but  proceeding  entirely  from  internal 
conditions.  They  are  simply  the  result  of  an  overflow  of 
nervous  energy,  and  require  only  motor  —  not  sensori-motor 


THE   WILL  97 

—  processes.  They  are,  of  course,  will-less,  and  are  desig- 
nated krypulsvw  movements.  Secondly,  we  have  those  move- 
ments (very  numerous  in  the  new-born)  which,  though 
requiring  peripheral  stimuli,  and,  therefore,  sensori-motor 
processes,  do  not  involve  active  attention  or  effort,  and  are, 
therefore,  will-less.  These  are  the  well-known  sensori- 
motor reflexes.  In  the  third  place,  there  is  a  kind  of  move- 
ments—  found  in  great  abundance  in  the  human  being,  and 
constituting,  probably,  the  majority  of  the  so-called  actions 
of  the  lower  animals  —  for  which  the  physical  and  emotional 
organism  is  specially  fitted  by  the  action  of  heredity.  These 
are  the  instinctive  movements.  Finally,  there  supervene  on 
all  these  the  bona  fide  actions  of  the  person,  involving  desire 
of  end,  attention  to  the  object,  and  representation  of,  and 
deliberation  upon,  the  means  of  attainment,  as  well  as  the 
conscious  forth-putting  of  the  self  in  effort  towards  the  reali- 
zation of  the  represented  end.  These  are  the  ideational,  or 
consciously  deliberated  and  voluntary  movements.  We  shall 
consider  these  in  this  order,  only  premising  that  because 
any  given  movement  is  here  classed  as  impulsive  or  reflexive, 
it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  it  is  never  to  be  found 
in  any  other  class.  A  movement,  the  same  outwardly,  may 
be  at  one  time  impulsive  and  at  another  ideational.  This 
is  one  application  of  the  principle  of  transformation. 

I.   Impulsive  Movements 

In  the  new-born  these  movements  are  numerous,  and 
comprise  all  those  spontaneous  kickings  and  rollings, 
awkward  muscle-movements  and  comical  grimaces,  so 
noticeable  in  the  early  weeks  of  life.  The  hands  strike 
right  and  left  and  move  toward  the  face  without  any  definite 
object ;  the  legs  tramp  and  kick  when  the  child  is  held  up 
in  the  air  ;  the  eyes  may  be  observed  to  move  before  the  lids 


98  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

are  opened ;  the  limbs  are  stretched  on  awakening ;  in  short, 
almost  every  muscle  of  the  body  is  exercised  without  any 
assignable  peripheral  stimulus.  The  movements  are  often 
symmetrical  (by  accident),  but  usually  at  first  asymmetri- 
cal. Some  of  them  (as  yawning  and  stretching)  persist 
through  life,  but  the  majority  have  disappeared  by  the  end 
of  the  second  year.  Many  of  them  are  unexpected  by  the 
child  himself ;  he  is  evidently  surprised  to  find  himself  per- 
forming a  certain  movement,  and  afterwards  performs  it 
voluntarily,  with  numberless  repetitions,  and  evident  pride 
in  the  newly  discovered  ability. 

The  first  smile  doubtless  belongs  here,  as  also  the  peculiar 
crowing  heard  so  frequently  in  the  first  year;  and  the 
numerous  "accompanying"  movements  made  by  the  child 
(such  as  holding  the  hands  in  a  certain  strained  position, 
with  the  fingers  spread  out,  while  drinking,  and  the  dreamy, 
wandering  motions  of  the  eyes  during  the  act  of  sucking). 
A  sleeping  child  suddenly  threw  up  one  of  his  hands,  which, 
coming  into  contact  with  the  eye,  pushed  the  lid  open.  The 
infant  slept  on  with  one  eye  open,  —  the  pupil  very  much 
contracted  —  until  by-and-by  the  hand  dropped  and  the  eye 
closed. 

Although  possessing  in  themselves  no  direct  volitional 
significance,  yet  these  impulsive  movements  are  indirectly 
of  great  importance,  inasmuch  as  they  are  the  raw  materials, 
upon  which  the  gradually  awakening  child-will  exercises 
itself,  making  them  its  own,  and  transforming  them,  by 
means  of  conscious  activity,  into  voluntary  actions  properly 
so  called. 

II.   Reflex  Movements 

These  occur  as  the  response  of  the  nervous  system  to 
peripheral  stimulation,  without  the  participation  of  the  idea. 
If  they  enter  into  consciousness  at  all,  it  is  only  during  or 


THB    WILL  99 

after  their  performance.  They  are  found  in  the  adult  in 
great  abundance  as  well  as  in  the  child ;  and  are  very  well 
exemplified  in  the  sudden  movements  of  the  hands  when 
one's  hat  is  blown  off  in  the  street.  Though  heredity  prob- 
ably plays  a  considerable  part  in  facilitating  them,  yet  they 
do  not  take  place  in  the  earliest  infancy  with  that  certainty 
and  promptness  by  which  they  are  characterized  in  later 
life,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  case  of  eye  movements.  What 
seems  to  be  transmitted  is  a  potentiality,  which  needs  expe- 
rience to  transform  it  into  an  actuality. 

The  law  of  transformation  has  an  obvious  application 
here.  Indeed  we  see  in  the  case  of  these  movements  a 
double  transformation :  that  which  was  at  first  a  reflex 
movement  becomes  afterwards  a  voluntary  one ;  and  finally, 
by  virtue  of  repetition,  leading  to  the  formation  of  a  habit, 
it  becomes  once  more  reflex  or  automatic.  Probably  all 
mouth  movements  involved  in  the  enunciation  of  articulate 
sounds  pass  through  all  these  stages,  as  we  shall  see  later. 

Reflex  movements  are  of  great  importance  in  will-growth, 
since  upon  them  the  voluntary  movements,  properly  so  called, 
supervene.  On  its  negative  side  also  (i.e.,  in  inhibition) 
the  will  develops  chiefly  in  connection  with  the  repression 
of  reflexes. 

The  reflex  activity  of  the  nervous  system  comes  into  play 
from  birth.  And  here  the  earliest  and  most  prominent  are 
the  various  respiration  reflexes.  The  first  cry  is  undoubt- 
edly of  this  character,  since  brainless  children  make  them- 
selves heard  in  the  first  minutes  of  life  as  well  as  normal 
children.1  Sneezing,  too,  which  in  many  new-born  children 
takes  the  place  of  crying,  is  a  pure  reflex,  as  it  continues  to 
be  through  life,  though  the  complex  coordination  of  many 
muscles,  by  which  it  is  accompanied,  is  not  so  complete  in 

^ee  several  cases  cited  by  Taiue,  "  Intelligence,"  Part  I.  Book  IV. 
Chap.  I. 


100  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

the  child  as  in  the  man.  Other  reflex  movements  connected 
with  respiration  are  coughing,  wheezing,  choking,  laughing 
when  tickled,  hiccoughing,  and  the  like,  all  of  which,  with 
the  exception  of  laughter,  may  probably  be  observed  in  the 
first  week.  A  striking  proof  of  the  reflex  sensibility  of  the 
respiratory  apparatus  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  a  noise,  just 
loud  enough  not  to  awaken  the  sleeping  child,  has  the  effect 
of  increasing  the  rapidity  of  the  respirations. 

Starting  at  any  sound  or  jar  does  not  occur  at  the  very 
first,  but  makes  its  appearance  early.  Generally  there  is 
silence  for  a  moment  after  the  disturbance,  as  though  the 
energies  were  temporarily  paralyzed.  Champneys  observed 
this  starting  first  in  the  fourth  week,  but  the  child  would 
not  start  twice  at  the  same  noise,  unless  it  was  very  loud. 
Children  are  very  susceptible  to  nervous  stimuli,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  frequency  of  convulsions  in  infant  life. 

Reflex  movements  of  the  limbs  are  numerous,  prompt  and 
early.  On  the  seventh  day  Darwin  tickled  the  sole  of 
his  child's  foot  with  a  piece  of  paper;  the  foot  was  jerked 
away  and  the  toes  curled  up.  He  remarks :  "  The  perfection 
of  these  involuntary  movements  shows  that  the  extreme 
imperfection  of  the  voluntary  ones  is  not  due  to  the  state  of 
the  muscles,  or  of  the  coordinating  centres,  but  to  that  of 
the  seat  of  the  will."  On  the  fourth  day  another  child 
clasped  a  finger  laid  in  his  hand.  From  the  fourteenth 
day  on,  tickling  the  sleeping  child's  temple  was  followed 
by  a  movement  of  the  hand  toward  the  place,  though  the 
hand  did  not  always  find  the  right  spot.  The  left  hand 
did  not  always  respond,  in  Preyer's  experiments,  to  stimu- 
lus applied  to  the  left  side,  nor  the  right  hand  to  the  right 
side:  but  Pfltiger  found  the  responses  constant  in  this 
respect.1     There  seem,  indeed,  to  be  two  sorts  of  reflexes : 

1  So  also  Baldwin.  See  "Infants'  Movements"  in  Science,  Jan.  8, 
1892. 


THE    WILL  101 

the  inborn  (such  as  spreading  the  toes  on  tickling),  which 
occur  from  the  first  hour  of  life  with  perfect  regularity  and 
accuracy ;  and  the  acquired  reflexes,  which  are  neither  prompt 
nor  certain  at  first,  but  become  so  on  repetition. 

Very  important  in  this  connection  are  the  reflex  eye- 
movements  of  the  new-born  child.  The  examples  given  in 
the  first  chapter  of  the  responses  of  the  infant  eye  to 
impressions  of  light,  —  turning  towards  the  light,  following 
a  moving  light  or  brightly  colored  object,  etc.,  —  are  mostly 
examples  of  reflex  movements,  as  are  also  those  movements 
of  the  eyes  which  follow  touch-impressions  on  the  lashes, 
lids,  etc.  According  to  Preyer,  there  are  "six  different 
regular  reflex  movements  from  the  optic  nerve  to  the  motor 
oculi  alone,  which  appear  in  the  case  of  light  impressions." 

Least  developed  of  all  in  the  earliest  period  are  the  pain- 
reflexes.  The  new-born  in  many  cases  makes  no  response 
whatever  to  the  prick  of  a  pin,  as  Genzmer  has  shown.  The 
response  takes  place,  however,  when  the  stimulus  is  such  as 
to  affect  a  large  number  of  nerve  ends  at  the  same  time  (a 
slap,  for  example).  This  tardiness  of  pain-reflexes  in  the 
new-born  does  not  show  that  he  is  insensible  to  pain,  — 
though  he  is,  probably,  less  sensitive  than  the  adult  in  this 
respect,  —  but  simply  that  the  nerve  connections  which  make 
reflex  movements  possible  are  in  the  ease  of  pain  sensations 
less  developed  than  those  of  the  skin  and  mucous  membrane. 

Finally  the  inhibition  of  reflexes,  by  which  the  will  of  the 
child  develops  on  its  negative  side,  is  very  difficult,  and 
therefore  a  late  attainment.  In  one  case  it  was  observed  as 
early  as  the  tenth  month,  in  another,  during  the  first  quarter 
of  the  second  year,  when  the  child  checked  an  impulse  to 
scratch  ;  and  in  a  third  in  the  fifteenth  month.  In  marked 
contrast  to  this  is  the  inhibition  of  reflexes  in  the  lower  an- 
imals, where  it  often  takes  place  before  the  end  of  the 
foetal  period. 


102  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 


III.    Instinctive  Movements 

These  differ  from  impulsive  movements  in  that  they  do 
not  occur  in  the  absence  of  appropriate  peripheral  stimuli. 
There  is  in  the  child  an  inborn  instinct  to  seize  with  the 
hand,  but  this  movement  takes  place  only  when  the  palm 
comes  into  contact  with  an  object.  They  differ  from 
impulsive  movements  also  in  having  an  end  or  purpose, 
though  this  end  may  not  be  known  at  the  time  of  their  per- 
formance.1 Besides  the  stimulus,  they  require  a  certain 
emotional  condition.  The  child  in  a  sorrowful  frame  of 
mind  does  not  laugh  when  his  toes  are  tickled.  They  differ 
from  ideational  movements  in  the  absence  of  a  pattern,  and 
of  any  conscious  effort,  or  previous  representation. 

One  of  the  strongest  instincts  in  a  child  is  to  seize 
objects  and  carry  them  to  his  mouth.  Attempts  at  this  have 
been  observed  as  early  as  the  fourth  day.  This  propensity 
to  make  the  mouth  the  test-organ  for  all  sorts  of  objects, 
has  been  explained  by  the  hypothesis  that  the  lips  may  have 
been  used  in  conjunction  with  the  hands  in  an  earlier  period 
of  race-progress,  much  more  extensively  than  at  present. 
The  movements  of  the  hands  to  the  mouth  may  be  at  first 
accidental,  and  then  instinctive,  as  in  painful  teething.  It 
finally  becomes  reflex  through  the  formation  of  habits. 
The  contraposition  of  the  thumb  in  seizing  objects  is 
quite  slowly  learned  (in  one  case  as  late  as  the  12th  week). 

As  to  the  rise  of  right-  or  left-handedness,  Professor  Bald- 
win has  made  a  large  number  of  experiments,  whose  results 
may  be  summarized  as  follows  : 

(1)  No  trace  of  preference  for  either  hand  was  discernible 
so  long  as  there  were  no  violent  muscular  exertions  made. 

l  "Instinct  is  .  .  .  the  faculty  of  acting  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce 
certain  ends  without  foresight  of  the  ends,  and  without  previous  educa- 
tion in  the  performance."    (James.) 


THE   WILL  103 

In  over  2000  experiments,  one  hand  was  preferred  as  often 
as  the  other. 

(2)  From  the  sixth  to  the  tenth  month,  the  tendency  to 
use  both  hands  together  was  about  twice  as  great  as  the 
tendency  to  use  either  hand  alone.  (The  figures  are  :  Num- 
ber of  experiments,  2187 ;  right  hand  used  alone  585  times, 
left  hand  alone  508  times,  both  hands  together  1034  times.) 

(3)  Right-handedness  developed  under  the  pressure  of 
muscular  effort.  Preference  for  the  right  hand  in  violent 
efforts  in  reaching  appeared  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
months.  Experiments  made  in  the  eighth  month  gave  this 
result :  Eight  hand  74,  left  5,  both  1.  Under  the  stimulus 
of  bright  colors,  the  right  hand  was  employed  84  times,  and 
the  left  hand  only  twice. 

Often  there  is  a  period  of  lef t-handedness  in  children  who 
afterwards  become  right  handed.  In  fact,  as  a  result  of 
some  careful  investigations  on  the  subject  of  left-handed- 
ness  in  school  children,  the  author  believes  that  in  the 
majority  of  cases  where  lef  t-handedness  persists  to  school 
age  it  is  due  to  an  inborn  condition. 

Among  instinctive  mouth  movements  the  earliest  and 
most  perfect  is  sticking.  Sometimes,  however,  even  this 
movement  is  far  from  perfect  at  the  beginning.  Many  of 
the  earliest  efforts  are  quite  fruitless,  owing  to  failure  in 
coordination.  This  movement  doubtless  takes  place  before 
birth,  since  it  may  be  observed  from  the  first  moments  of 
life.  On  its  development,  Kussmaul  remarks  to  the  follow- 
ing effect :  An  advance  is  made  on  the  mere  reflexes  when 
the  child  sucks  the  finger  thrust  into  his  mouth,  or  the 
nipple  of  the  breast.  Here  we  have  not  only  sensation, 
awakening  movement,  but  also  feelings  of  pleasure  or  dis- 
pleasure, with  answering  endeavors  and  mental  representa- 
tions of  the  simplest  kind.  Finally  the  will  learns  to 
regulate  these  movements  in  the  interests  of  the  individual. 


104  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

Other  instinctive  mouth  movements  are  biting  (which 
begins  about  the  fourth  or  fifth  month,  and  supersedes  suck- 
ing from  the  tenth  month),  chewing  (which  is  performed 
with  perfect  regularity  from  the  fourth  month),  grinding  the 
teeth  (which  is  quite  original,  and  probably  practised  by  all 
babes  during  teething),  and  licking  (which  is  performed  in 
the  first  twenty-four  hours  "hardly  less  adroitly  than  in  the 
seventh  month  "). 

Learning  to  walk  involves  a  whole  series  of  preliminary 
accomplishments,  first  among  which  is  the  ability  to  hold 
the  head  in  equilibrium,  which  may  be  accepted  as  the 
criterion  of  the  rise  of  voluntary  power.  This  is  usually 
accomplished  about  the  fourth  month.  The  next  stage  is 
reached  a  month  or  two  later  in  the  ability  to  sit  alone 
upright.  When  this  is  successfully  accomplished  for  the 
first  time,  the  soles  of  the  feet  are  frequently  turned  towards 
each  other.  To  stand  alone  is  the  next  stage ;  and  any  one 
who  has  watched  the  attempts  of  a  little  child  to  stand  up- 
right and  walk  will  be  convinced  that  he  is  moved  to  this 
by  a  natural  instinct.1 

It  is  an  important  epoch  in  a  child's  life  when  he  suc- 
ceeds in  standing  alone.  Whole  sets  of  muscles,  heretofore 
scarcely  used,  are  now  brought  into  activity,  and  his  prog- 
ress is,  from  this  time  on,  more  all-sided  and  symmetrical. 
Hitherto  his  locomotion  has  been  only  in  the  form  of  creep- 
ing (which  is  performed  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  some 
children  paddling  straight  ahead  on  all  fours,  like  little 
quadrupeds,  some  hitching  along  in  an  indescribable  manner 
on  their  haunches,  and  some  going  backwards,  crab-fashion) ; 
but  for  the  child  who  has  learnt  to  stand  alone,  the  transi- 

1  Sigismund  graphically  describes  the  child's  first  attempts  to  stand 
in  these  words:  "Das  Kind  ist  selbst  von  seiner  Verwegenheit  iiber- 
rascht,  steht  angstlich  mit  weit  gestellten  Fussen,  und  lasst  sich  bald 
etwas  umsanft  nieder." 


THE   WILL  105 

tion  to  walking  is,  in  a  very  literal  sense,  "  only  a  step." 
The  first  conscious  steps  are  taken  very  timidly,  and  with  an 
evident  fear  of  falling.  But  frequently  the  first  steps  are 
taken  unconsciously.  Sometimes  a  child  who  has  learnt  to 
walk,  partially  or  wholly,  reverts  for  a  season  to  creeping, 
for  no  apparent  reason.  Children  who  have  older  brothers 
or  sisters  are  likely  to  walk  at  an  earlier  age  than  others,  on 
account  of  the  example  and  assistance  of  these  older  ones. 
At  first  the  feet  are  placed  disproportionately  wide  apart, 
giving  rise  to  a  curious  waddling  motion  ;  while  sometimes 
a  child  runs  instead  of  walking,  and  staggers,  with  the  body 
inclined  forward,  and  the  hands  stretched  out  as  though  he 
were  afraid  of  falling,  the  feet,  too,  being  lifted  higher  than 
is  necessary.  Many  children  seem  more  amiable  after  they 
have  learned  to  walk,  doubtless  on  account  of  their  newly 
acquired  ability,  which  not  only  occupies  their  attention, 
but  enables  them  to  go  more  readily  to  the  objects  of  their 
desire. 

It  is  perhaps  scarcely  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  a  movement  may  be  instinctive  and  yet  not  make 
its  appearance  at  the  very  beginning  of  life ;  nor  to  the 
fact  that  instincts  are  not  absolutely  invariable,  but  are 
subject  both  to  inhibition  by  habits  and  also  to  natural  de- 
cay from  desuetude.1 

IV.   Ideational  Movements 

Finally,  in  virtue  of  the  aimless  and  will-less  execution 
of  vast  numbers  of  movements  of  the  nature  of  those  already 
treated,  —  impulsive,  reflexive  and  instinctive,  —  it  at 
length  comes  to  pass  that  movements  are  performed  which 
are  the  expression  of  the  conscious  self,  the  index  of  vill  in 

1  See  Professor  James'  chapter  on  Instinct.  "  Principles  of  Psychol- 
ogy," Vol.  II. 


106  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

the  true  and  only  proper  sense  of  the  word,  involving  a  pre- 
vious representation  of  the  end  sought,  and  (in  their  earlier 
stages)  of  the  movements  involved  in  attaining  that  end,  as 
well  as  a  deliberate  forth-putting  of  the  self  in  conscious 
effort  towards  the  attainment.  To  such  movements,  and 
to  such  only,  should  the  name  of  actions  be  applied.  All 
others  are  only  movements.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that 
the  little  child  passes  per  saltum  from  the  condition  indi- 
cated in  the  previous  sections  of  this  chapter,  to  that  of 
explicit  self-conscious  activity.  Indeed,  it  would  be  a  very 
false  view  of  child-development  that  represented  the  vari- 
ous stages  as  following  one  another  in  rigid  succession, 
with  hard  and  fast  lines  showing  where  the  one  ends  and 
the  next  begins.  They  are  rather  to  be  compared  to  sur- 
faces, whose  boundaries,  vaguely  outlined,  overlap  each 
other.  There  are  a  few  impulsive  movements,  and  very 
many  reflex  and  instinctive  ones,  persisting  to  the  end  of 
life. 

We  shall  find  it  convenient  to  follow  Professor  Preyer's 
subdivision  of  ideational  movements  into  three  classes.  In 
the  lowest  class,  we  have  movements  of  imitation,  which, 
though  indicating  activity  of  will  (at  least  in  their  later 
stages),  yet  depend  on  a  model  or  pattern,  and  are  never 
performed  by  the  child  unless  he  first  observes  their  per- 
formance by  others.  Next,  we  have  expressive  movements, 
which,  as  the  name  indicates,  are  a  more  or  less  conscious 
expression  of  feelings  and  desires;  and  finally,  the  full- 
fledged  deliberative  actions. 

(a)  Imitative  Movements.  — These  may  be  divided 
into  two  species,  viz. :  Simple  imitation,  in  which  the  move- 
ment is  only  an  approximate  imitation,  and  no  second  at- 
tempt is  made;  and  persistent  imitation,  ''Which  marks  the 
transition   from  suggestion   to  will,  from  the   reactive  to 


THE   WILL  107 

the  voluntary  consciousness."  The  former  is  exemplified 
in  the  single,  isolated  attempt  on  the  child's  part  to  repro- 
duce a  sound  made  by  another  person ;  the  latter,  in  the 
repeated  efforts  of  a  girl  of  fourteen  months  to  put  a  rubber 
on  a  pencil,  after  having  seen  her  father  do  it,  or  of  a  boy  of 
twelve  months,  to  get  a  cord  into  the  hole  of  a  spool. 

Two  points  should  be  mentioned  before  we  proceed  to 
record  observations  in  this  connection.  First :  When  a 
child  for  the  first  time  voluntarily  imitates  a  given  move- 
ment, which  he  has  already  performed  involuntarily  a  num- 
ber of  times,  he  does  it  far  less  perfectly  than  when  he  did 
it  without  conscious  imitation.  "  If  I  clear  my  throat,  or 
cough  purposely,  without  looking  at  the  child,  he  often  gives 
a  little  cough  likewise,  in  a  comical  manner.  But  if  I  ask : 
*  Can  you  cough  ? '  he  coughs,  but  generally  copying  less 
accurately."  Second :  It  must  not  be  supposed,  even 
when  a  child  imitates  a  movement  deliberately  and  with  a 
clear  idea  of  it,  that  he  understands  in  every  case  the  mean- 
ing of  the  movement.  One  child,  in  the  tenth  month,  had 
learned  to  imitate  the  movement  of  beckoning,  but  he 
showed  by  the  expression  of  his  face  and  the  attendant 
gestures,  that  he  did  not  in  the  least  comprehend  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  beckoning. 

As  early  as  the  third  and  fourth  months,  according  to  one 
writer,  children  perform  little  tricks  which  indicate  the 
buddings  of  the  imitative  propensity.  Raw  attempts  at 
vocal  imitation  may  be  observed  even  in  the  second  month, 
when  the  child  makes  a  response  to  words  addressed  to  him. 
This,  however,  is  mechanical.  In  the  third  month  the  child 
will  imitate  looks,  i.e.,  he  will  look  at  an  object  which  others 
are  looking  at.  Egger  saw,  in  the  sixth  month,  an  in- 
stance of  imitation,  together  with  the  act  of  recollection 
which  it  involves.  Champneys  says  of  his  child  :  "  About 
the  thirteenth  week  he  began  to  appear  to  attempt  to  join 


108  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

in  conversation,  with  a  variety  of  articulate  sounds,  if  talk- 
ing was  going  on  in  the  room."  Preyer  observes  :  The  first 
attempt  at  imitation  occurred  in  the  fifteenth  week,  the 
child  making  an  attempt  to  purse  the  lips  when  one  did  it 
close  in  front  of  him.  In  the  seventeenth  week,  the  "  pro- 
truding of  the  tip  of  the  tongue  between  the  lips  was  per- 
fectly imitated  once  when  done  before  the  child's  face,  and 
the  child  in  fact  smiled  directly  at  this  strange  movement, 
which  seemed  to  please  him." 

There  is  no  point  on  which  I  find  so  much  uniformity  as 
this,  that  imitation  begins  during  the  second  half  of  the 
first  year.  This  is  true  of  almost  all  children  without 
exception,  so  far  as  I  know,  and  extends  not  only  to  move- 
ments proper,  but  also  to  vocal  imitation,  as  we  shall  see. 
A  boy  of  seven  months  tried  hard  to  say  simple  mono- 
syllables after  his  mother.  Another  is  reported  to  have 
accomplished  his  first  unmistakable  imitations  when  seven 
months  old,  in  movements  of  the  head  and  lips,  laughing, 
and  the  like.  Crying  was  imitated  in  the  ninth  month, 
and  in  the  tenth,  imitation  of  all  sorts  was  quite  correctly 
executed,  though  even  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  new 
movements,  and  those  requiring  complex  coordination,  often 
failed.  A  child  of  eight  and  a  half  months,  having  seen 
his  mother  poke  the  fire,  afterwards  crept  to  the  hearth, 
seized  the  poker,  thrust  it  into  the  ash-pan,  and  poked  it 
back  and  forth  with  great  glee,  chuckling  to  himself.  An- 
other child,  in  his  tenth  month,  imitated  whistling,  and 
later,  the  motions  accompanying  the  familiar  "  pat-a-cake," 
etc.  In  his  eleventh  month  he  used  to  hold  up  the  news- 
paper, and  mumble  in  imitation  of  reading.  Another 
boy,  in  his  eleventh  month,  used  to  cough  and  sniff  like  his 
grandfather,  and  amused  himself  by  grunting,  crowing, 
gobbling  and  barking  in  imitation  of  the  domestic  ani- 
mals and  birds.     A  little  girl  of  this  age  used  to  reproduce 


THE   WILL  109 

with  her  doll  some  of  her  own  experiences,  such  as  giving  it 
a  hath,  punishing  it,  kissing  it,  and  singing  it  to  sleep. 

One  fine  morning  in  May  I  took  the  little  boy,  R.,  for  a 
walk  through  a  beautiful  avenue,  where  the  trees  on  each 
side  met  overhead  in  a  mass  of  foliage.  These  trees  were 
full  of  birds,  busy  with  their  nest  building,  and  full  of  song. 
The  little  fellow  was  fairly  enchanted.  He  could  not  go 
on.  Every  few  steps  he  would  stop  (at  the  same  time  pulling 
at  my  hand  to  make  me  stop,  too),  and  looking  up  into  the 
trees,  with  his  head  turned  on  one  side,  would  give  back  the 
bird-song  in  a  series  of  warbling,  trilling  notes  of  indescrib- 
able sweetness.  I  very  much  doubt  whether  any  adult  voice, 
however  trained,  or  any  musical  instrument,  however  com- 
plicated, could  reproduce  those  wonderful  inflections.  The 
same  boy,  a  little  later,  used  to  imitate  with  his  voice  the 
boys  whistling  in  the  street,  giving  the  right  pitch.  An- 
other boy,  at  thirteen  months,  brushes  his  hair,  tries  to  put 
on  his  shoes  and  stockings,  and  many  other  similar  things. 
Indeed  the  whole  life  of  the  child  of  this  age  is  full  of 
imitation.  Going  out  with  the  girl,  F.,  I  observed  that  she 
did  almost  everything  I  did ;  I  brushed  some  dust  from  my 
coat  and  she  immediately  "  brushed  "  her  dress  in  like  man- 
ner. It  is  in  fact  difficult  fully  to  realize  how  the  child  of 
this  age  is  watching  our  every  movement,  and  learning 
thereby.  Not  only  parents  and  teachers,  but  every  one  who 
comes  in  contact  with  the  child,  even  casually  and  occasion- 
ally, contributes  his  share,  whether  he  will  or  not,  in  the 
child's  education.  The  moral  of  this  is  too  obvious  to  re- 
quire repetition. 

(b)  Expressive  Movements.  —  These  arise  out  of  those 
already  treated  of.  Impulsive,  reflex,  instinctive  and  even 
tlic  simpler  imitative  movements,  are  not  intentional  expres- 
sions of  mental  states.     But  a  movement  which  was  at  first 


110  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

impulsive  or  reflex  may  become  the  manifestation  of  such 
states.  The  first  cry  and  the  first  puckering  of  the  mouth 
(which  Kussmaul  noticed  in  children  less  than  an  hour  old, 
when  a  bitter  substance  was  brought  into  contact  with  the 
tongue)  are  only  the  reaction  of  the  organism  to  external 
stimuli.  But  later,  both  the  cry  and  the  gesture  fall  within 
the  control  of  the  will,  and  are  transformed  into  the  pur- 
posive utterances  of  the  conscious  self.  Many,  perhaps 
most,  of  the  expressive  movements  are  impulsive  or  other 
movements  which  have  been  thus  transformed. 

The  first  so-called  smile,  for  example  (which  may  be  ob- 
served in  children  less  than  two  weeks  old),  is  simply  an 
impulsi .'e  movement  resulting  from  agreeable  feeling;  and 
a  reflex  laugh  may  be  elicited  from  a  child  very  early  by 
tickling  the  soles  of  his  feet.  In  one  case  the  first  real 
smiles  were  observed  from  the  26th  day;  and  in  the  eighth 
week  enjoyment  of  music  was  manifested  by  laughing  and 
smiling,  accompanied  by  lively  movements  of  the  limbs,  and 
a  bright,  gleaming  expression  of  the  eyes.  The  imitative 
laugh  began  about  the  ninth  month.  Egger  thinks  the 
time  when  intelligence,  properly  speaking,  appears,  is  marked 
by  the  advent  of  the  laugh,  which  he  observed  for  the  first 
time  after  the  fortieth  day.  Sigismund  first  observed  a 
smile  in  the  seventh  week.  Many  children,  he  says,  smile 
first  in  sleep;  then  soon  after  in  response  to  the  friendly 
looks  of  others.  This  responsive  smile  he  believes  is  the 
first  sign  of  consciousness  of  and  response  to  sensations 
received  from  others.  Many  have  observed  the  smile  as 
early  as  the  second  and  third  or  even  the  first  week,  but  so 
far  as  I  am  aware,  no  one  attributes  conscious  expression  to 
the  smile  of  a  child  less  than  a  month  old.  Mr.  Darwin 
believes  he  saw  a  smile  of  mental  origin  on  the  forty-fifth 
day.  M.  Guyau  thinks  the  smile  is  reflex  in  its  origin. 
Tiedemann  observed  a  smile  in  the  second  month,  and  genu- 


THE    WILL  111 

ine  laughter  in  the  third.  So  also  several  others.  The 
boy,  C,  laughed  aloud  when  being  undressed.  He  was  then 
three  months  old.  Three  weeks  later,  when  some  one  was 
reading  aloud,  he  laughed  and  cooed  until  the  reader  was 
obliged  to  stop.  He  evidently  thought  the  reading  was  in- 
tended for  his  special  entertainment.  A  boy  of  the  same 
age  laughed  aloud  one  day  without  any  apparent  cause. 
The  psychic  development  of  the  smile  is  well  stated  in  the 
following  words :  "  The  smile  begins  when  the  infant  first 
begins  to  be  conscious  of  outside  things;  attention  gradually 
becomes  closer  and  more  fixed ;  the  smile  at  this  stage  is  the 
mere  stare,  vacant  at  first,  but  growing  steadily  more  intel- 
ligent and  wondering  in  its  appearance.  About  the  third 
week  this  begins  to  relax  very  slightly  into  the  appearance 
of  pleasure.  At  this  point  there  comes  first  more  and  more 
of  a  glow  on  the  face  —  a  beaming —  then  in  a  day  or  two  a 
very  slight  relaxation  of  the  muscles,  increasing  every  day. 
This  dawning  smile  is  often  very  beautiful,  but  it  is  not  yet 
a  smile.  It  is  almost  a  smile,  but  I  am  confident  no  one 
will  ever  know  the  exact  day  when  the  baby  fairly  and 
intelligently  for  the  first  time  smiles." 

On  Pouting  and  Pursing  the  Lips  as  an  expressive  move- 
ment, Preyer  observes  in  substance  :  There  are  three  sorts 
of  pouting,  differing  from  each  other  according  to  the  cause. 
First,  there  is  a  protrusion  of  the  lips,  which  may  be 
observed  in  some  children  from  the  first  hour  of  life,  and 
which  is  purely  impulsive.  Secondly,  the  pursing  of  the 
mouth  when  attention  is  closely  strained  (as  in  learning  to 
write  or  draw).  This  appears  as  early  as  the  fifth  week, 
and  continues  to  the  end  of  life  in  many  instances.  Thirdly. 
the  pout  of  sullenness,  which  makes  its  appearance  much 
later  than  the  others,  and  is  not  due  to  imitation  (for  it 
occurred  where  there  had  been  no  opportunity  for  imita- 
tion), but  is  undoubtedly  hereditary. 


112  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

The  kiss,  as  an  expressive  action,  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
not  hereditary,  but  acquired.  Some  nations  do  not  practise 
it.  The  child  has  to  learn  it,  and  he  is  somewhat  late  in 
learning  it,  as  observations  show.  Very  seldom  does  the 
child  understand  its  meaning,  or  give  it  spontaneously,  until 
the  second  year  of  life. 

The  child's  cry  is  at  first  not  expressive ;  and  when  it 
becomes  so,  it  varies  greatly  in  different  children.  Accord- 
ing to  one  observer,  "  Crying  took  place  at  first  without  any 
squaring  of  the  mouth,  the  sound  was  that  of  'nga'  as 
expressed  in  German.  It  must  have  been  produced  by  clos- 
ing the  fauces  by  contact  of  the  pillars  of  the  fauces  and  the 
soft  palate,  so  as  to  send  all  the  sound  through  the  nose. 
Vowel  sounds  were  then  produced  by  separating  the  soft 
palate  and  the  pillars  of  the  fauces,  and  allowing  the  sound 
to  come  through  the  mouth."  He  goes  on  to  say  that 
the  child  seemed  to  cry  at  first  for  three  reasons :  Loneliness 
or  fright,  hunger,  or  pain ;  and  these  cries  seemed  all  differ- 
ent in  character ;  but  he  does  not  say  when  this  difference 
became  apparent.  The  first  crying  is  only  squalling;  it 
has  no  expressive  intonations.  The  transition  from  the 
meaningless  cry  to  the  significant  voice,  with  different  cries 
to  express  different  mental  states,  has  been  observed  as 
early  as  the  second  month,  and  in  other  cases  during  the 
third  month.  The  little  girl,  W.,  when  four  months  old, 
"  expressed  hunger  by  cries  that  were  short  and  shrill,  fol- 
lowing each  other  rapidly,  and  not  so  loud  as  other  cries." 1 

Weeping.  —  The  new-born  do  not  shed  tears,  no  matter 
how  hard  they  cry.  At  a  later  period  they  cry  and  weep 
together,  and  they  can  also  cry  without  weeping.  But  to 
weep  without  crying  comes  much  later,  and  is  compara- 
tively rare  in  childhood.     One  or  two  cases  are  reported  of 

1  For  further  remarks  on  this  transition  from  the  meaningless  to  the 
significant  cry  see  Chap.  V,  sec.  III. 


THE    WILL  113 

tears  being  shed  by  children  two  weeks  old,  but  most  of  the 
observations  point  to  a  later  date.  In  one  case  the  first 
tears  were  shed  at  the  end  of  the  third  week,  in  another  in 
the  fourth  week,  while  in  other  cases  tears  were  seen  to  flow 
down  the  face  in  the  sixth,  ninth,  twelfth,  fourteenth,  fif- 
teenth and  sixteenth  weeks  respectively.  Darwin's  child 
shed  tears  in  the  twentieth  week,  but  as  early  as  the  tenth 
his  eyes  were  moist  in  violent  crying.  He  thinks  that 
children  do  not  usually  shed  tears  until  the  second,  third 
or  fourth  month.  From  the  second  year  onward,  children 
weep  much  more  easily  than  at  an  earlier  period,  and,  later 
still,  the  inhibition  both  of  tears  and  crying  is  a  significant 
mark  of  the  growing  power  of  the  will. 

Nodding  the  head  in  assent,  and  shaking  it  in  refusal,  are 
at  first  entirely  different  from  each  other  in  mental  signifi- 
cance. The  latter  is  an  inborn  reflexive  or  instinctive 
movement,  while  the  former  is  acquired.  The  child  who 
has  satisfied  his  hunger,  will  turn  his  head  from  side  to 
side  in  refusal  of  further  proffered  nourishment  when  less 
than  a  week  old.  This  movement  becomes  expressive  almost 
from  the  first.  It  is  generally  accompanied  by  the  partial 
closing  of  the  eyes,  and  often  by  arm-movements  of  "  ward- 
ing off."  Nodding  in  one  case  was  not  imitated  until  the 
fourteenth  month,  and  even  then  very  imperfectly.  Even 
after  it  was  finally  learnt,  its  meaning  was  often  confounded 
with  that  of  shaking  the  head.  The  child  would  shake  his 
head  for  "  yes,"  and  nod  it  for  "  no."  In  another  case,  both 
nodding  and  shaking  the  head  had  become  expressive  by 
the  fifteenth  month. 

Other  examples  of  expressive  movements  which  may  be 
observed  in  children  at  a  very  early  age,  are  the  following : 
Clasping  the  hands  together,  or  waving  them  very  quickly 
back  and  forwards,  or  up  and  down,  to  express  eager  desire 
for  something ;  reaching  out  with  uplifted  hands  and   ex- 


114  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

tended  arms  for  the  same  purpose,  or  even  sometimes  clap- 
ping the  hands  quickly  together,  after  the  manner  of  an 
"encore";  violent  straightening  of  the  back  in  anger;  a 
curious  bearing,  almost  indescribable,  showing  vanity ;  be- 
sides several  gestures  expressive  of  affectation,  and  a  variety 
of  facial  expressions  and  vocal  inflections  impossible  to 
describe.  "Jealousy,  pride,  pugnacity,  covetousness,  lend 
to  the  childish  countenance  a  no  less  characteristic  look 
than  do  generosity,  obedience,  ambition."  All  these  facial 
expressions  and  bodily  movements  "  appear  in  greater  purity 
in  the  child,  who  does  not  dissemble,  than  they  do  in  later 
life." 

(c)  Deliberative  Movements.  —  Finally  we  reach  that 
stage  —  not  necessarily  subsequent  to  all  the  others,  but 
partially  synchronous  with  them  —  in  which  the  will  rises 
to  its  proper  place  as  "  master  of  ceremonies,"  brings  into 
subjection  the  impulsive  and  instinctive  tendencies  of  which 
we  have  spoken,  and  assumes  control  of  the  child's  activities. 
To  express  this  truth  by  saying  that  the  faculty  of  will  has 
come  into  being,  is  misleading,  simply  because  there  is  no 
"  faculty  "  of  will  considered  as  a  separate  entity.  The  will 
is  the  person  considered  as  active ;  and,  instead  of  saying 
that,  with  the  advent  of  what  we  call  ideational  movements, 
the  will  is  born,  and  with  that  of  deliberative  movements  it 
is  perfected,  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  these  move- 
ments are  the  first  outward  indications  that  the  child  is 
becoming  the  conscious  master  of  his  own  activity. 

In  order  to  perform  deliberative  or  voluntary  actions  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  it  is  necessary  that  the  child 
should  have  had  experience  of  a  large  number  of  movements 
of  the  involuntary  sort.  For,  like  the  man,  he  can  create 
nothing;  the  most  he  can  do,  is  to  combine  and  separate,  to 
analyze  and  synthesize  the  materials  that  come  to  his  hand. 


THE    WILL  115 

Man's  greatest  achievements  consist  simply  in  modifying, 
changing,  separating,  combining    and  rearranging  familiar 
material.       So  the  child    in  all  his  numerous    movements 
accomplishes   nothing  absolutely   new ;    he    only  uses    old 
movements,  varying  them,  it  is  true,  in  numberless  ways, 
but  really  adding  nothing  of  his  own  creation.      Therefore 
the  exercise  of  voluntary  activity  requires  memory  of  invol- 
untary muscular  movements  previously  executed.      For  a 
voluntary  movement  is  one  which  is  pictured  beforehand  in 
the  imagination,  or,  if  the  movement  itself  be  not  thus  pic- 
tured, the  end  of  the  movement,  at  least,  must  be.      But  in 
order  to  represent,  we  must  first  2>resent;    or  in  other  words, 
in  order   to  imagine   a  movement,  either  in  process  or  in 
product,  that  movement  must  first  have  been  perceived ;  and 
this  means  that  the  child  must  have  seen  it  performed  by 
others,  and  felt  it  performed  by  himself — involuntarily  — 
before  he  could  perform  it  deliberately.      So  we  find  that 
deliberative  movements  are  gradually  acquired,  and  super- 
vene upon  a  vast  number  of  impulsive,  reflexive  and  instinc- 
tive movements.     For  example,  grasping  with  the  hand  is 
at  the  beginning  a  pure  reflex,  as  we  have  seen,  but  gradu- 
ally, after  many  repetitions,  this  movement  is  remembered ; 
actual  performance  of  the  movement  has  led  to  the  formation 
of  a  mental  image  of  it,  as  well  as  a  more  perfect  physio- 
logical adjustment  favoring  its  performance.     So  that  when 
desire,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  takes  place,  atten- 
tion is  bestowed  upon  the  object  sought  and  on  the  movement 
involved,  and  the  action  is  deliberately  performed.      So  we 
see   that   a    strictly  deliberative  movement  —  an  action  — 
presupposes  desire,  attention  and  memory-images.       It  is 
therefore  not  to  be  expected  that  we  shall  find   bona  fide 
actions  in  very  young  infants.     l'reyer  fouud  no  movement 
in  the  first  three  months  which  could  be  announced  with 
absolute  certainty  as  a  deliberative  movement.     Tiedemanu 


11 G  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

saw  the  first  intended  holding  of  objects  in  the  fourth  month. 
Another  child,  at  six  months,  showed  a  great  deal  of  per- 
sistent effort.  "  He  would  over  and  over  again  seem  to  be 
trying  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  hinge  to  his  nursery 
door,  patiently  and  with  riveted  attention  opening  and 
shutting  the  door.  Day  after  day  saw  him  at  his  self- 
appointed  task."  A  boy  of  eleven  months,  in  striking 
a  spoon  against  another  object,  would  suddenly  change  it  to 
the  other  hand,  apparently  testing  whence  the  noise  pro- 
ceeded. When  fourteen  months  old,  while  playing  with  a 
tin  can,  he  put  the  cover  on  and  off  "  not  less  than  seventy- 
nine  times  without  stopping  a  moment,  his  attention  mean- 
time strained  to  the  utmost."  Indeed  the  child's  attention 
seems  capable  of  surprising  prolongation  in  connection  with 
muscular  movement.  A  little  girl  of  nineteen  months 
brought  out  her  toy  blocks  to  show  me.  I  helped  her  to 
build  houses  with  them.  Delighted  with  this  play,  she 
showed  a  surprising  persistence ;  and  when  I  grew  tired  and 
wished  to  stop,  she  made  me  keep  on  longer.  It  is  by 
means  of  this  incessant  activity  that  the  child  develops 
both  mentally  and  physically. 

The  ability  to  inhibit  movements,  though  often  difficult 
to  observe  with  accuracy,  seems  to  me  one  of  the  most  cer- 
tain criteria  of  the  presence  of  will.  To  keep  himself  from 
moving  is  surely  more  difficult  than  to  move,  in  a  being  so 
constitutionally  restless  as  the  average  child.  Children  of 
five  months,  others  of  six,  and  others  of  seven  or  eight 
months,  have  been  observed  to  refrain  from  reaching  for 
an  object  that  was  much  beyond  their  reach.  The  little 
boy,  R.,  when  threatened  with  punishment  for  continued 
crying,  is  able  to  desist. 

The  development  of  desire  and  attention  has  perhaps  been 
sufficiently  indicated  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs.  Desire, 
in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  is  the  primary  stage  in 


THE   WILL  117 

every  volition ;  and  no  volition  can  take  place  without  atten- 
tion. The  child's  attention  is  comparatively  weak  and  inter- 
mittent. He  cannot  attend  to  the  unimpressive,  the  stimulus 
must  be  strong,  must  be  on  the  motor  side,  and  must  be 
frequently  renewed.  His  attention  is  very  easy  to  obtain, 
but  very  hard  to  retain.  This  double  fact  in  his  nature 
renders  him  capable  of  education,  but  at  the  same  time  makes 
his  education  a  gradual  process,  which  must  consist  largely 
in  the  formation  of  right  habits  in  him  through  imitation, 
to  which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  is  so  excessively  prone. 
M.  Guyau  indeed  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  by  a  judicious 
use  of  the  child's  susceptibility  to  imitative  suggestion  we 
may  make  of  him  almost  what  we  please.  And  this  seems 
indeed  not  far  from  the  truth,  when  we  consider  the  child's 
wonderful  susceptibility  to  every  passive  impression,  and 
his  no  less  wonderful  predisposition  to  reproduce  it  in  his 
own  untiring  activity. 


CHAPTER  V 
LANGUAGE l 

The  profound  psychogenetic  significance  of  the  language 
function,  not  only  as  an  index  of  mind  development,  but 
also  as  a  factor  in  that  development,  justifies  its  treatment 
in  a  separate  chapter.  Such  separate  treatment  would  not 
otherwise  be  justifiable,  inasmuch  as  language  does  not  con- 
stitute a  new  psychic  phenomenon,  or  class  of  phenomena, 
differing  in  any  essential  respect  from  those  already  treated. 
It  rather  partakes  of  the  nature  of  them  all,  and  consti- 
tutes a  grand  product  of  their  conjoint  operation. 

Although  our  chief  attention  is  occupied  here  with  the 
spoken  word,  this  is  by  no  means  the  only  form  of  language. 
In  its  broadest  sense,  language  includes  every  means  by 
which  thought  is  communicated,  and  hence  gestures  are  a 
form  of  language  as  truly  as  speech. 

In  order  to  the  employment  of  language  of  any  sort, 
there  must  be,  in  the  first  place,  sensation.  If  sounds  are 
to  be  intelligently  uttered,  they  must  first  be  heard.  The 
child  who  is  born  deaf,  and  continues  in  that  condition,  does 
not  learn  to  speak.  In  the  second  place,  language  presup- 
poses perception  and  judgment.  The  sounds  must  not  only 
be  heard,  they  must  be  understood.  A  meaning  must  be 
attached  to  them.  Otherwise  they  will  never  be  given  back 
by  the  child  as  the  expression  of  his  thought ;  i.e.,  as  his 

1  This  chapter  first  appeared  as  an  article  entitled,  "The  Language 
of  Childhood,"  in  the  American  Journal  of  Psychology,  Vol.  VI.  No.  I. 

118 


LANGUAGE  119 

language.  In  the  third  place,  it  is  essential  to  any  advance 
beyond  the  merest  linguistic  rudiments  that  abstraction  and 
generalization  take  place  ;  for  the  communication  of  thought, 
in  its  highest  forms,  cannot  take  place  until  there  has  been 
attained  the  comprehension  of  the  general  as  distinguished 
from  the  particular,  and  of  the  abstract  as  distinguished 
from  the  concrete.1  Finally,  passing  from  the  cognitive  to 
the  volitional  aspect  of  mind,  it  is  obvious  that  language 
in  its  most  essential  characteristic  —  i.e.,  as  expression  — 
belongs  to  the  will.  Every  expression  of  thought,  whether 
it  be  word  or  mark  or  gesture,  is  the  result  of  an  act  of  will, 
and  as  such  may  be  classed  among  movements. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  as  constituting  a  new  order  of  facts, 
different  from  thoughts  and  feelings  and  volitions,  but 
rather  as  illustrating  the  development  of  these,  and  enter- 
ing as  a  factor  in  that  development,  that  language  receives 
this  separate  place.  We  judge  of  the  child's  mental  de- 
velopment largely  by  the  rapidity  of  his  progress  towards  a 
skilful  manipulation  of  the  instruments  of  expression. 

I.    Heredity  vs.  Education  in  Language 

There  is  no  psychological  problem  to  the  solution  of 
which  a  study  of  the  infant  mind  may  be  expected  to  con- 
tribute more  largely  than  this:  What  is  hereditary,  and 
what  is  acquired,  in  the  sphere  of  language  ?  Long  before 
maturity  is  attained,  such  an  abundance  of  acquired  ma- 
terial has  been  added  to  our  original  store,  and  through 
constant  repetition,  the  two  have  become  so  transformed, 
modified  and  assimilated  in  character,  that  we  are  no 
longer  able  to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other.  But  from 
the  beginning  it  was  not  so.     If  a  child  executes  a  gesture, 

1  On  the  other  hand,  thought  itself  cannot  attain  to  any  great  degree  of 
generality  without  the  aid  of  language.  Thought  and  language  are  mu- 
tually helpful,  aud  conduce  each  to  the  development  of  the  other. 


120  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

or  utters  a  sound,  at  an  age  so  early  as  to  exclude  the  possi- 
bility of  imitation  or  spontaneous  invention  on  his  part,  we 
may  conclude  that  the  sound  or  the  gesture  —  or  at  least  the 
disposition  to  express  himself  in  this  manner  —  has  been 
born  with  him.  Here  only,  then,  are  we  able  to  apply  the 
logical  method  of  difference  to  the  solution  of  the  problem. 

It  is  obvious  at  a  glance  that  speech  is  a  product  of  the 
conjoint  operation  of  these  two  factors  :  heredity  and  educa- 
tion. If,  on  the  one  hand,  we  observe  the  initial  babbling 
of  the  infant,  and  notice  its  marvellous  flexibility,  and  the 
enormous  variety  of  its  intonations  and  inflections  —  and 
this  at  an  age  so  early  as  to  preclude  observation  and  imita" 
tion  of  others,  —  it  will  be  apparent  that  the  child  has  come 
into  the  world  already  possessing  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  equipment  by  which  he  shall  in  after  years  give  expres- 
sion to  his  feelings  and  thoughts.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  carefully  observe  him  during  the  first  two  years  of  his 
life,  and  note  how  the  intonations,  and  afterwards  the  words, 
of  those  by  whom  he  is  surrounded,  are  given  back  by  him 
—  at  first  unconsciously,  but  afterwards  with  intention  — 
and  how,  when  conscious  imitation  has  once  set  in,  it  plays 
thenceforth  the  preponderating  rdle,  —  we  shall  readily  be- 
lieve that,  without  this  second  factor,  but  little  progress 
would  be  made  towards  speech-acquirement. 

It  may  be  well  to  consider  briefly  how  these  two  factors 
enter  at  every  point  in  the  development  of  language.  For 
example,  in  order  to  speak,  the  child  must  possess  first  of 
all  a  sensory  and  motor  physiological  apparatus.  This  phys- 
iological apparatus,  including  the  auditory  structure  for  the 
reception  of  sounds,  the  inter-central  and  centro-motor  cells 
and  nerve  tracts  for  the  accomplishment  of  connection  be- 
tween the  impression  and  the  expression,  and  the  organs  of 
vocal  utterance  (larynx,  palate,  tongue,  lips,  teeth),  is  his 
inheritance  from  the  past ;  but  in  the  new-born  child  it  is 


LANGUAGE  121 

all  imperfect,  both  in  structure  and  in  functioning ;  and  its 
development  requires  the  constant  molding  influence  of 
those  educating  agencies  by  which  the  human  being  is  sur- 
rounded from  the  moment  of  his  entrance  into  the  world. 

Again,  the  disposition  to  utter  sounds  of  all  sorts,  and  to 
express  states  of  feeling  by  them,  is  undoubtedly  inherited, 
since,  from  the  very  beginning  of  life,  and  quite  indepen- 
dently of  all  example,  the  child  constantly  exercises  his 
vocal  organs.  But  in  spite  of  this,  so  inadequate  is  heredity 
alone,  that  the  child  will  not  learn  the  language  of  his  par- 
ents, unless  he  be  in  the  society  of  those  who  employ  it. 
f  brought  up  among  savages,  he  will  speak  their  language ; 
if  among  wolves,  he  will  howl.1 

In  making  this  statement,  we  do  not  overlook  those  re- 
markable cases  in  which  children  have  invented  a  language 
of  their  own,  quite  different  from  that  spoken  around  them  ; 
and  persisted  for  some  time  in  using  the  former  and  entirely 
ignoring  the  latter.  Mr.  Horatio  Hale  gives  an  account  of 
five  different  cases  in  which  this  has  occurred,  two  in  the 
United  States  and  three  in  Canada.  In  one  case  this  in- 
vented vocabulary  consisted  of  twenty-one  root-forms,  out 
of  which,  by  combination  and  modification,  the  children 
developed  a  complete  language,  by  which,  with  the  aid  of 
gesture,  all  their  wants  could  be  communicated ;  and  in  all 
the  cases -the  invented  language  was  sufficient  for  all  inter- 
course as  between  the  children  themselves;  and  was  per- 
sistently used  until  the  children  were  finally  broken  of  it,, 
by  being  separated  or  sent  to  school.  In  all  these  cases,  it 
is  to  be  observed,  the  child  did  not  learn  the  language  of  his 
parents  in  the  absence  of  those  who  employed  it.  It  is  also 
to  be  noted  that  the  new  language  was  invented,  not  by  one 

1  "  It  is  found  that  young  birds  never  have  the  song  peculiar  to  their 
Bpecies,  if  they  have  not  heard  it  ;  whereas,  they  acquire  very  easily  the 
soul;  of  almost  any  other  bird  with  which  tluv  arc  associated. "  —  Alfred 

Buasel  Wallace,  Natural  Selection. 


122  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD 

child,  but  by  ttvo.  Language  is  possible  in  all  normal  chil- 
dren ;  it  becomes  actual  only  in  the  presence  of  a  companion. 
But  given  the  companion,  and  scarcely  any  limit  can  be  set 
to  the  possibilities  of  development.  Indeed,  Mr.  Hale  has 
given  us  a  theory  of  language,  in  which  the  origin  of  lin- 
guistic stocks  is  attributed  to  the  inventiveness  of  children 
who  have  become  separated  from  their  tribe  when  very 
young ;  and  in  the  light  of  such  facts  as  those  given  above, 
the  theory  seems  highly  probable.  On  the  other  hand,  that 
the  child  shall  speak  any  specific  tongue  now  existing  de- 
pends on  his  education.  He  does  not  inherit  any  particular 
tongue  or  dialect.  Some  think  he  will  acquire  his  mother- 
tongue  with  greater  facility  than  any  other,  yet  even  this 
may  be  doubted.  "Speech  is  hereditary,  but  not  any  par- 
ticular form  of  speech."  There  may  be  an  inherited  ten- 
dency to  find  certain  sounds  difficult,  as  sh  to  the  ancient 
Ephraimite,  or  th  to  the  modern  Frenchman,  but  this  is  only 
a  tendency,  and  does  not  prevent  the  child  from  learning 
any  language  perfectly,  if  his  education  begins  early  enough. 

Again,  the  careful  study  of  the  language  of  signs  makes 
it  quite  clear  that  many  gestures  are  inherited  (e.g.,  holding 
out  the  hands  to  express  desire,  which  is  world-wide,  and 
is  executed  by  children  who  have  never  seen  it  done),  but 
the  development  of  gesture  into  anything  like  a  complicated 
system  of  expression  is  quite  dependent  on  the  social  en- 
vironment. Of  course  this  is  only  another  way  of  saying 
that  language,  being  the  instrument  for  the  communication 
of  thought,  is  not  developed  in  the  absence  of  beings  to 
whom  thought  can  be  communicated. 

Thus,  then,  the  case  seems  to  stand  with  regard  to  the 
respective  spheres  of  heredity  and  education  in  the  produc- 
tion of  language.  As  regards  the  child's  present  endowment 
and  capabilities  at  the  moment  of  his  entrance  into  the 
world,  "  he  is  the    product,  the  result  of  the  generations 


LANGUAGE  123 

which  have  preceded  him ;  he  is  the  visible  link  which  con- 
nects the  past  with  the  future  " ;  but  with  regard  to  that 
which  he  is  to  be,  and  the  legacy  which  he  in  his  turn  shall 
transmit  to  those  who  shall  succeed  him,  he  is  very  largely 
dependent  on  his  physical  and  social  environment ;  and  all 
those  who  compose  that  environment,  assist,  whether  they 
will  or  no,  in  his  education. 

II.   The  Physiological  Development 

If  the  question  were  asked,  Why  does  not  the  new-born 
child  talk  ?  two  answers  might  be  given.  In  the  first 
place,  there  is  a  psychological  reason,  viz.,  he  has,  as  yet, 
no  ideas,  and  has,  therefore,  nothing  to  say.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  there  is  a  physiological  reason,  viz.,  his  speech- 
apparatus  is  as  yet  so  imperfectly  developed  that  he  could 
not  express  ideas  if  he  had  them. 

In  the  same  way,  if  the  question  were  asked,  Why  does 
any  person  ever  lose  the  power  of  speech  ?  similar  answers 
might  be  given.  He  either  loses  his  ideas,  through  some 
mental  disorder,  or  he  loses  the  power  of  expression  through 
some  physiological  disorder.  The  two  cases  are,  moreover, 
parallel  in  another  sense,  inasmuch  as  the  acquirement  of 
ideas  in  the  one  case,  and  their  failure  in  the  other,  are 
closely  associated  with,  if  not  indeed  quite  dependent  upon, 
the  presence  or  absence  of  the  physiological  functions. 

The  physiological  reason,  then,  why  the  child  does  not 
yet  speak,  lies  in  the  undeveloped  state  of  the  speech- 
apparatus.  "  The  lungs  are  not  yet  developed  in  a  degree 
and  manner  sufficient  for  articulate  speech.  The  expiration 
needs  to  be  strong,  and  exactly  regulated.  Now,  in  the 
infant,  the  pectoral  muscles  are  still  developed  in  a  very 
small  degree ;  the  breathing  is  accomplished  much  more 
through  the  fall  of  the  diaphragm  than  through  the  active 
extension  of  the  pectoral  cavity.     Hence,  breathing  move- 


124  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD 

ments  are  more  superficial  and  more  irregular  than  in  later 
years.  Artificial  speech  requires  complete  control  of  the 
breathing  mechanism,  which  the  child  has  not  yet  got.  To 
his  speech-instrument  is  still  wanting  a  large  number  of 
strings,  whistles  and  registers.  The  organs  of  speech  are 
the  lungs,  air  tubes,  larynx  and  vocal  cords,  the  mouth, 
with  tongue,  palate,  lips  and  teeth.  The  lungs  create  the 
stream  of  air ;  the  tone  and  voice  are  formed  by  the  larynx ; 
according  as  the  vocal  cords  open  wider  or  come  nearer, 
arises  the  deeper  or  higher  tone.  The  form  of  the  tone 
(i.e.,  vowel  a  or  o,  etc.,  consonant  b  or  /,  etc.)  depends  on 
the  form  of  the  mouth  at  the  time.  Now  the  larynx  is  still 
very  small  and  undeveloped  in  its  form,  and  so  with  the 
tongue,  the  lips  and  the  muscles  moving  them  ;  and  as  for 
the  teeth,  they  are  still  entirely  wanting."  The  unde- 
veloped condition  of  the  auditory  apparatus,  and  of  the 
brain,  have  also  to  be  considered  in  this  connection. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  needs  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
relation  between  the  organs  of  speech  and  speech  itself  is 
a  reciprocal  one.  If  speech  depends  on  the  organs,  it  is  also 
true  that  the  organs  depend  on  speech,  and  are  not  devel- 
oped except  by  exercise.  As  one  learns  to  play  on  the 
harp  by  playing  on  the  harp,  so  the  child  learns  to  speak 
by  speaking.  The  exercise  of  the  vocal  organs  develops 
them,  so  that  they  become  capable  of  higher  exercise. 

The  foetal  lungs  contain  no  air,  and  lie,  packed  in  a  com- 
paratively small  compass,  at  the  back  of  the  thorax.  They 
undergo  very  rapid  and  remarkable  changes  after  birth,  in 
consequence  of  the  commencement  of  respiration.  They  ex- 
pand so  as  to  completely  cover  the  pleural  portions  of  the 
pericardium,  their  margins  become  more  obtuse,  and  their 
whole  form  less  compressed.  The  entrance  of  the  air  changes 
their  texture  so  that  it  becomes  more  loose,  light  and  spongy, 
and  less  granular;  while  the  great  quantity  of  blood,  which, 


LANGUAGE  125 

from  this  time  on,  circulates  through  them,  greatly  increases 
their  weight,  and  changes  their  color.  The  proportion  of 
their  weight  to  that  of  the  body  becomes  nearly  twice  as 
great  as  before,  while  their  specific  gravity,  after  the  be- 
ginning of  respiration,  becomes  very  much  less. 

The  trachea,  or  windpipe,  which  connects  the  lungs  with 
the  larynx,  is  in  the  embryo  almost  closed,  its  anterior  and 
posterior  walls  being  very  near  each  other.  The  small 
space  remaining  is  filled  with  mucus.  With  the  exercise 
of  respiration,  the  mucus  is  expelled,  and  the  tube  itself 
gradually  becomes  more  distended,  but  its  anterior  wall  does 
not  for  some  time  become  convex.  With  the  growth  of  the 
child,  the  cartilages  forming  the  "  ribs  "  of  the  trachea  be- 
come stronger  and  better  able  to  bear  their  part  in  the  forcible 
expiration  of  air  which  is  required  for  speech. 

The  larynx,  which  is  the  organ  most  directly  concerned 
in  the  production  of  "  voice  "  or  "  tone,"  is  an  exceedingly 
complicated  mechanism,  consisting  of  a  framework  of  carti- 
lages comprising  no  less  than  nine  distinct  parts,  connected 
by  elastic  membranes  or  ligaments,  two  of  which,  from  their 
specially  prominent  position,  are  named  the  true  vocal  cords. 
In  speaking  and  singing,  these  cartilages  are  moved  relatively 
to  one  another  by  the  laryngeal  muscles.  The  larynx  is 
situated  at  the  upper  end  of  the  trachea,  the  mucous  lining 
of  the  two  organs  being  continuous.  At  the  time  of  birth, 
this  organ  is  very  small  and  narrow,  and  continues  com- 
paratively insignificant  up  to  the  period  of  adolescence, 
when  rapid  and  remarkable  changes  take  place,  especially 
in  the  case  of  the  male,  where  it  becomes  much  more  promi- 
nent, and  the  pomum  adami  protrudes  so  as  to  be  perceptible 
at  the  throat. 

The  tongue  is  composed  very  largely  of  muscular  fibres, 
running  in  various  directions,  such  as  the  superior  and 
inferior  lingual    muscles,  which    move   the   organ  up  and 


126 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 


down,  and  the  transverse  fibres,  by  which  it  is  moved  from 
side  to  side.  Besides  these,  we  have  the  various  glossal 
muscles,  which,  though  extrinsic  to  the  tongue  itself,  yet 
are  implicated  in  its  operations.  These  muscles  are  all 
more  or  less  flabby  in  the  new-born,  and  become  strong  only 
by  nutrition  and  exercise.  A  similar  remark  applies  to  the 
lips;  while  the  teeth,  without  which  the  dental  and  labio- 


Fro.  1.  —  A,  B,  and  C.  Stages  of  development 
of  the  child's  cerebrum.  8,  Fissure  of  Sylvius. 
R,  Fissure  of  Rolando. 

dental  consonants  can  never  be  properly  pronounced,  are  at 
the  beginning  of  life  entirely  absent. 

The  brain  of  the  foetus  is  comparatively  deficient  in  con- 
volutions, and  presents  a  smooth,  even  appearance.  The 
first  of  the  primary  fissures  to  appear  is  the  fissure  of 
Sylvius,  which  is  visible  during  the  third  month.  The 
other  primitive  sulci  also  begin  to  appear  about  this  time, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  fifth  month  are  well  established. 
The  secondary  sulci  make  their  appearance  from  the  fifth 
or  sixth  month  on.  The  first  of  these  to  be  seen  is  the 
fissure   of  Rolando.     "  By  the  end  of  the  seventh  month, 


LANGUAGE  127 

nearly  all  the  chief  features  of  the  cerebral  convolutions 
and  sulci  have  appeared.  The  last  fissures  to  appear  are 
the  inferior  occipitotemporal,  and  a  small  furrow  cross- 
ing the  end  of  the  calloso-marginal."  But  long  after  the 
extra-uterine  life  begins,  the  child-brain  is  still  deficient  in 
many  of  the  higher  processes,  the  association  fibres  being  the 
last  to  develop.  The  convolutions  are  for  a  long  time  com- 
paratively simple,  and  their  increasing  complexity  as  life  ad- 
vances stands  to  the  exercise  of  the  various  faculties,  partly 
in  the  relation  of  antecedent,  and  partly  as  consequent. 

Speech,  then,  in  the  little  child  is  a  potentiality,  though 
not  an  actuality.  He  is,  as  it  were,  in  possession  of  the 
machine,  but  the  belts  have  not  yet  been  adjusted  to  the  pul- 
leys, nor  has  he  yet  learned  to  handle  the  instrument.  The 
inability  to  speak  is  not,  therefore,  an  abnormal  state  at 
the  beginning  of  life,  any  more  than  the  inability  to  write, 
or  swim,  or  play  the  piano.  It  is  merely  an  imperfect 
state.  But  the  inability  to  learn  to  speak  is  abnormal,  and 
its  cause  must  be  sought,  not  in  immaturity,  but  in  abnor- 
mality of  the  physiological  or  psychological  structures  and 
processes  involved.  The  one  is  an  unnatural  condition,  into 
which  the  child  has  fallen ;  the  other  a  natural  condition, 
out  of  which  he  will  gradually  rise. 

III.    The  Phonetic  and  Psychic  Development 

We  shall  here,  first  of  all,  give  a  sort  of  outline  history 
of  the  speech-progress  of  the  average  child  during  the  first 
two  years,  generalizing  from  a  large  number  of  actual  obser- 
vations (made  by  different  persons  on  different  children) 
and  proceeding  by  periods  of  six  months  each  ;  then  we 
shall  give  summarized  statements  of  a  number  of  child- 
vocabularies  that  have  been  carefully  compiled  at  different 
ages;  and  finally,  we  shall  examine  what  general  conclu- 
sions may  be  drawn  from  the  material   at  hand   and   set 


128  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   CHILDHOOD 

down  as  empirical  laws  awaiting  further  substantiation. 
I  say  "empirical  laws,"  because  children  differ  so  much 
from  each  other,  and  reliable  observations  are  so  compara- 
tively scanty,  that,  for  the  present,  general  statements  must 
be  held  in  abeyance,  or  made  only  tentatively. 

First  Six  Months.  — "  In  Thuringia,"  says  Sigismund, 
"  they  call  the  first  three  months  '  das  dumme  Vierteljahr,'  " 
and  during  the  second  three  months,  according  to  Schultze, 
no  advance  is  made  on  the  first.  It  might  seem,  then,  that 
in  this  first  half-year  there  is  nothing  worthy  of  our  attention 
in  the  matter  of  language.  This,  however,  is  very  far  from 
being  the  case,  for  in  this  period  a  most  important  appren- 
ticeship is  going  on.  The  little  child,  even  in  the  cradle, 
and  before  he  is  able  to  raise  himself  to  a  sitting  posture, 
is  receiving  impressions  every  waking  moment  from  the 
environment;  is  hearing  the  words,  seeing  the  gestures,  and 
noting  —  in  a  manner  perhaps  not  purely  involuntary  — 
the  intonations  of  those  around  him ;  and  out  of  this  mate- 
rial he  afterwards  builds  up  his  own  vocabulary.  Not 
only  so,  but  during  this  period,  that  peculiarly  charming 
infantile  babble  (which  Ploss  calls  "  das  Lallen")  begins, 
which,  though  only  an  "awkward  twittering,"  yet  con- 
tains in  rudimentary  form  nearly  all  the  sounds  which 
afterwards,  by  combination,  yield  the  potent  instrument  of 
speech.  A  wonderful  variety  of  sounds,  some  of  which 
afterwards  give  the  child  difficulty  when  he  tries  to  produce 
them,  are  now  produced  automatically,  by  a  purely  impul- 
sive exercise  of  the  vocal  muscles ;  in  the  same  way  as  the 
child  at  this  age  performs  automatically  many  eye-move- 
ments, which  afterwards  become  difficult,  or  even  impossible. 
M.  Taine  thinks  that  "  all  shades  of  emotion,  wonder,  joy, 
wilfulness  and  sadness"  are  at  this  time  expressed  by  dif- 
ferences of  tone,  equalling  or  even  surpassing  the  adult. 


LANGUAGE  120 

The  child's  first  act  is  to  cry.  This  cry  has  been  vari- 
ously interpreted.  Semmig  calls  it  "the  triumphant  song 
of  everlasting  life,"  and  describes  it  as  "  heavenly  music  " 
—  himmlische  Mitsik ;  Kant  said  it  was  a  cry  of  wrath,  and 
others  have  spoken  of  it  as  a  sorrowful  wail  on  entering 
this  world  of  sin ;  or  as  the  foreboding  of  the  pains  and 
sorrows  of  life.  It  seems  more  scientific,  though  less 
poetic,  to  accept  the  explanation  of  the  "  unembarrassed 
naturalist,"  who  sees  in  it  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the 
expression  of  the  painfulness  of  the  first  breathing  —  the 
rush  of  cold  air  upon  the  lungs. 

A  more  important  point  is  the  relation  of  this  first  vocal 
utterance  to  the  speech  that  is  to  follow.  The  cry  at  first 
is  merely  an  automatic  or  reflex  "squall,"  without  expres- 
sive modulation  or  distinctive  timbre  ;  the  same  cry  serves 
to  express  all  sorts  of  feelings.  But  very  soon  it  becomes 
differentiated  and  assumes  various  shadings  to  express 
various  mental  states.  This  differentiation  begins  at  differ- 
ent times  in  different  children.  A  girl  only  fifteen  days 
old  expressed  her  desire  to  be  fed  by  a  particular  sort  of 
cry.  In  another  case,  the  cry  had  ceased  to  be  a  mere 
squall  by  the  end  of  the  first  month.  In  another,  the  feel- 
ings of  hunger,  cold,  pain,  joy  and  desire  were  expressed  by 
different  sounds  before  the  end  of  the  fifth  week.  Others 
report  the  transition  from  the  "  cry  "  to  the  "  voice,"  involv- 
ing cooperation  of  the  mouth  and  tongue,  at  different  times, 
but  all  within  the  first  three  months. 

These  cries  are  variously  described.  According  to  one, 
"  the  cryvof  pain  is  generally  longer  continued  than  the  cry 
of  fear."  Another  speaks  of  the  cry  of  fear  as  "short 
and  explosive,"  while  hunger  is  expressed  by  a  long-drawn- 
out  wail.  Another  child  at  two  months  expressed  pleasure 
and  pain  by  different  forms  of  the  vowel  a.  Sigismund's 
boy,  in  his  sixth  month,  expressed  pleasure  by  a  peculiar 
crowing  shout,  accompanied  by  kicking  and  prancing. 


130  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

The  next  step  is  taken  when  these  cries  and  babblings 
assume  an  articulate  character.  The  alphabetic  sounds 
begin  to  be  heard.  Of  these,  the  vowels  usually  precede 
the  consonants ;  and  of  the  vowels,  a  with  its  various  shad- 
ings is  generally  the  first  to  appear.1  In  one  case  the  fol- 
lowing series  was  developed:  d-a-u.  In  another,  the 
sound  of  a-a,  as  an  expression  of  joy,  was  heard  in  the 
tenth  week.  According  to  Lobische,  the  vowels  developed 
in  this  order :  a-e-o-u-i.  One  child  began  with  a,  and  then 
proceeded  to  ai-d-au-d,  while  the  pure  sound  of  6  was 
late  in  appearing.  In  another  case  all  the  vowels  were 
heard  in  the  first  five  months,  a  being  the  most  frequently 
employed;  and  in  another,  the  primitive  a  (of  which  the 
child's  first  cries  largely  consisted)  became  differentiated 
into  the  various  vowel-sounds  during  the  first  month. 
Preyer  reports  the  use  of  the  vowel-sounds  in  the  following 
order :  ud-ao-ai-uao-d-o-aro-u-e-d-i-u ;  and  Sigismund  in  the 
following :  a-d-u-ei-o-i-d-ii-du-au. 

Long  before  the  sixth  month,  the  primitive  vowels  are 
combined  with  one  another  (as  we  see)  and  with  consonants, 
to  produce  the  first  syllabic  utterances.     These  first  sylla- 

1  It  is  necessary  at  this  point  to  adopt  a  system  of  diacritical  marks, 
as  in  all  that  follows  the  child's  pronunciation  is  of  great  importance. 
We  shall,  therefore,  adopt  the  following  system,  and  shall  take  the  liberty 
of  changing,  wherever  necessary,  the  spelling  of  the  recorded  observations, 
for  the  sake  of  uniformity : 

a  as  in  calm.  e  or  ee  as  in  eat,  feet,  etc.   oo  as  in  food, 

a  as  in  fat.  i  as  in  pit.  66  as  in  foot, 

a  as  in  fate,  i  as  in  ice.  u  as  in  up. 

a  as  in  awl.  o  as  in  pot.  u  as  in  use. 

a  (German  a  umlaut).    6  as  in  old.  ii  (German  u  umlaut), 

e  as  in  pel.  6  (German  o  umlaut) . 

Some  changes  will  also  be  made  in  the  use  of  consonants.  For  example, 
such  words  as  corner,  chorus,  coffee,  etc.,  will  be  spelled  with  a  k  ;  words 
like  cigar,  centre,  cellar,  etc.,  with  an  s;  and  in  such  words  as  virile,  the 
silent  w  will  be  omitted.  Other  changes  will  be  indicated  as  they  are 
made. 


LANGUAGE  131 

bles  are,  for  the  most  part,  mechanical.  In  a  great  many 
of  the  cases  under  consideration,  the  first  consonants  to 
make  their  appearance  are  the  labials,  b-jj-m,  and  these  are 
almost  always  initial  at  first,  and  not  final.  The  easy  con- 
sonant m,  combined  in  this  way  with  the  easy  vowel  a, 
yields  the  familiar  combination  ma,  which,  by  spontaneous 
reduplication,  becomes  mama.  In  a  similar  manner,  papa} 
baba  (afterwards  baby)  and  the  like  are  constructed.  The 
labials  are  not  always,  however,  the  first  consonantal  sounds 
uttered.  Sometimes  the  gutturals  (g  or  k)  precede  them; 
and  the  two  consonants  which  are  usually  the  last  to  appear 
(viz.,  r  and  I)  are  used  by  some  children  quite  early.  In 
the  case  of  the  boy  A.,  the  first  sounds  were  guttural,  gg, 
though  the  earliest  combination  was  mam-mam,  used  in  cry- 
ing. At  five  months  "  he  dropped  the  throat-sounds  almost 
entirely,  and  began  the  shrill  enunciation  of  vowels  " ;  and 
at  six  months  he  lowered  his  voice  and  began  to  use  lip- 
sounds,  simultaneously  with  the  cutting  of  his  first  teeth. 
In  another  case,  m  appeared  as  the  first  consonant  in  the 
second  month  and  was  followed  by  b-d-n-r,  occasionally  g  and 
h,  and  very  rarely  k ;  the  first  syllables  were  pa-ma-ta-na. 
Lobische  observed  the  consonants  in  this  order:  m-(ic)-b-i)-il-t- 
l-n-s-r;  Sigismundinthis:  b-m-n-d-s-g-w-f-ch-k-l-r-sch',  and  Dr. 
Brown  in  this:  b-p-f-r-m-g-k-h-t-d-l-n.  In  some  cases  nearly 
all  syllables  have  been  correctly  pronounced  during  the  first 
half-year;  while  in  others  progress  is  much  slower,  very  few 
syllables  being  certainly  mastered  before  the  ninth  month. 

We  may  sometimes  observe  here  also  the  beginnings  of 
vocal  imitation.  The  boy  A.  was  observed  to  "  watch  atten- 
tively the  lip-movements  of  his  attendants " ;  and  other 
observers  have  remarked,  from  about  the  fourth  month,  "  a 
curious  mimicry  of  conversation,  imitating  especially  the 
cadences,  so  that  persons  in  the  adjoining  room  would  think 
conversation  was  going  on."  The  same  thing  was  ob 
served  in  A.  a  little  later. 


132  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD 

Second  Six  Months.  —  Most  children  make  a  very- 
marked  advance  during  this  period  in  the  imitation  of 
sounds,  in  the  intentional  use  of  sounds  with  a  meaning, 
and  in  the  comprehension  of  the  meanings  of  words  and 
gestures.  The  actual  vocabulary  of  most  children  at  this 
age  is,  however,  exceedingly  small.  Many  children,  a  year 
old,  cannot  speak  a  single  word,  while  the  average  vocabu- 
lary does  not  probably  exceed  half  a  dozen  words. 

A  new  advance  accompanies  the  rise  of  active  hearing, 
and  the  increasing  power  of  attention  in  the  third  three 
months.  The  child  begins  to  keep  a  sort  of  time  to  music, 
in  which  he  shows  pleasure,  and  this  strong  excitement 
stimulates  the  production  of  new  sounds.  He  delights  in 
being  carried  about  with  a  galloping  rhythmic  motion,  and 
will  smack  his  lips  and  make  other  sounds  in  imitation  of 
chirping  to  a  horse.  He  pats  his  hands  together  in  imi- 
tation of  the  accompanying  motions  in  a  nursery  rhyme, 
and  sometimes  makes  an  attempt  to  say  the  words  also. 
He  shows  a  fondness  for  ringing  the  changes  on  certain 
syllables  which  he  has  learned,  varying  and  reduplicating: 
e.g.,  mama,  baba,  gaga,  nana,  etc.,  and  other  less  intelligible 
combinations. 

He  understands  many  words  which  he  cannot  pronounce, 
and  he  pronounces  some  in  a  mechanical  way  without 
understanding.  He  knows  each  member  of  the  household 
by  name,  and  will  reach  a  biscuit  to  the  person  named 
to  him.  He  knows  the  principal  parts  of  his  own  body, 
and  will  point  to  them  when  asked.  The  words  papa 
and  mama,  whose  surprising  universality  may  be  partly  ac- 
counted for  by  the  physiological  law  of  ease  (the  sound 
most  easily  produced  and,  therefore,  earliest  used,  being 
naturally  associated  with  those  persons  whose  presence 
arouses  the  earliest  and  most  vivid  emotions  and  ideas),  are 
by  many  children  at  this  time  intelligently  used,  though 
some  are  later  in  this. 


LANGUAGE  133 

Imitation  usually  makes  rapid  strides  in  this  period. 
In  one  case  gestures  were  imitated  at  eight  months,  and 
words  at  nine.  If  some  one  is  being  called,  the  child  also 
calls  loudly.  In  another  case,  towards  the  end  of  the  child's 
first  year,  he  began  to  imitate  the  sounds  made  by  animals 
and  inanimate  objects.  Sigismund  observed  the  instinct 
of  imitation  showing  itself  in  the  third  quarter  of  the  first 
year ;  the  reduplication  of  syllables  composed  of  a  labial 
or  dental  consonant  and  the  vowel  a;  and  the  more  fre- 
quent occurrence  of  syllables  in  which  the  vowel  is  initial. 
Champneys'  child  distinctly  imitated  the  intonation  of  the 
voice  when  a  word  or  sentence  was  repeated  to  him  several 
times.     This  has  been  observed  also  in  other  cases. 

Children  who  are  able  to  use  a  few  words  at  this  age 
show  by  their  use  of  them  how  inadequately  defined  is 
their  meaning.  A  little  girl,  who  had  learned  to  say  d  gd 
(all  gone)  and  gaga  (gegangen),  applied  the  latter  term 
to  herself  when  falling  down.  Humphreys  says  the  child 
he  observed  was  able,  at  this  time,  to  name  many  things 
correctly,  and  to  pronounce  all  initial  consonants  distinctly, 
except  th,  t,  d,  v,  and  I.  Some  final  consonants  were  indis- 
tinct. Another  child,  at  eleven  months,  knew  what  gnten 
tag  meant,  and  responded  with  tata;  he  also  answered  adieu 
with  adaa.  In  this  case,  the  first  association  of  a  sound 
with  a  concept  was  ee,  which  meant  wet.  A  boy  of  ten 
months  used  intelligently  the  words  mama,  Aggie  (Maggie, 
this  afterwards  became  Waggie)  and  addie  (auntie).  At 
eleven  months,  Waggie  was  shortened  to  Wag,  and  addie 
to  att.  Another  at  seven  months  used  to  wave  his  hand 
and  say  tata  at  parting;  and  one  day  he  did  this  when  a 
closet  door  was  opened  and  shut  again.  Taine's  little 
girl  at  twelve  months,  on  learning  the  word  btbe,  as  con- 
nected with  the  picture  of  the  infant  Jesus,  afterwards 
extended  it,  curiously  enough,  not  to  all  babies,  but  to  all 


134  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

pictures.  Occasionally  a  word  is  invented,  such  as  the  word 
mum,  reported  by  Mr.  Darwin,  which  the  child  used  with 
an  interrogatory  sound  when  asking  for  food,  but  also  "  as  a 
substantive  of  wide  signification."  I  observed  a  similar 
general  use  of  da,  in  the  case  of  F.  In  another  case,  the 
word  bo  was  used  to  signify  anything  that  pleased  the  child. 
The  words  mama,  papa  and  babe,  which  had  been  used  for 
some  time  mechanically,  were  dropped  about  the  middle  of 
this  period,  to  be  resumed  five  months  later,  "  when  they 
were  applied  to  their  proper  objects."  Sully  observed 
in  the  beginning  of  this  period  (which  he  calls  the  la  la 
period)  the  rise  of  spontaneous  articulation.  Combinations 
of  syllables  were  suddenly  hit  upon,  and  repeated  without 
any  meaning,  except  as  indications  of  baby  feeling.  Long 
a  indicated  surprise,  and  "  a  kind  of  o,  formed  by  sucking 
in  the  breath,  indicated  pleasure  at  some  new  object."  In 
one  case,  a  little  sentence  was  uttered  by  a  child  at  the  close 

of  this  period.    He  said :  "  Papa mama,"  which  meant: 

"  Papa,  take  me  to  mama." 

The  wide  differences  among  children  make  it  unsafe  to 
venture  any  generalizations,  except  one,  viz.,  this  second 
half-year  seems  to  be  par  excellence  the  period  of  the  rise 
of  imitation.  Some  children,  however,  are  as  far  advanced 
at  the  beginning  of  this  period  as  others  are  at  its  end. 
Perhaps  it  ought  also  to  be  remarked  that  the  child  who 
shows  a  great  precocity  in  imitation,  or  in  learning  to 
speak,  will  not  necessarily,  on  that  account,  turn  out  a 
more  intelligent  child.  Imitation  does  not  require  a  very 
high  degree  of  mental  acuteness,  and  the  child  who  has 
been  slow  in  this  may  in  the  end  surpass  his  more  preco- 
cious companion. 

Third  Six  Months. —While  the  child  is  learning  to 
walk,  there  is  very  often  a  standstill,  or  even  a  retrograde 


LANGUAGE  135 

movement,  in  the  matter  of  speech.  After  walking  is  mas- 
bered,  the  acquisition  of  language  goes  forward  again  with 
greater  facility  than  ever. 

During  this  third  period,  marked  progress  is  usually 
made  in  the  understanding  of  words,  and  in  their  intelli- 
gent application,  though  the  vocabulary  is  still  very  limited, 
and  the  pronunciation  imperfect.  Difficult  sounds  are 
omitted,  or  replaced  by  easier  ones.  Sometimes  the  change 
in  one  consonant  has  an  influence  on  another  which  pre- 
cedes or  follows  it.  In  longer  words  and  combinations, 
only  the  prominent  part  —  the  accented  syllable,  or  the 
final  sound  —  is  reproduced.  A  final  ie  is  often  added  to 
words.  The  child  says  dinnie  for  dinner,  ninnie  for  drink, 
and  beddy  for  bread.  Other  imperfect  pronunciations  are : 
tijn/  tee  (apple  tree),  piccy  book  (picture  book),  gamy  or 
nmniie  (grandma),  pee  (please),  pepe  (pencil),  mo-a  (more), 
ho  or  hd  (horse),  Balbert  (Gilbert),  Tot  (Topf),  Ka-ka  (Car- 
rie), and  Kakie  (Katy). 

Most  children  at  this  age  understand  a  great  deal  of 
what  is  said  to  them.  Such  phrases  as  "bring  the  ball"; 
"  come  on  papa's  knee  " ;  "  go  down  "  ;  "  come  here  "  ;  "  give 
me  a  kiss,"  are  perfectly  understood  and  obeyed.  Parts  of 
the  child's  body,  as  eyes,  nose,  ear,  other  ear,  hand,  etc.,  other 
person's  eyes,  ears,  etc.,  are  pointed  to  when  named.  Arti- 
cles are  fetched,  carried  and  put  where  one  commands. 

Some  children  begin,  towards  the  end  of  this  period,  to 
express  themselves  in  short  sentences,  which  are  usually 
elliptical,  or,  as  Romanes  says,  "  sentence- words,"  only  the 
most  prominent  word  or  words  in  the  sentence  being  pro- 
nounced. E.g.,  ta  (thank  you),  nee  (take  me  on  your  knee) ; 
det  off;  det  up  ;  where  cows  George  ?  (where  are  Uncle  George's 
coivs?);  mo-a,  mama  (give  me  more,  mama);  dao  (take 
me  doion  from  my  chair).  Many  combinations  of  words 
are   made,  which   fall   short  of  the  dignity  of  sentences. 


136  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

E.g.,  mama  dess,  ding-a-ling,  etc.  A  boy  of  eighteen  months 
"knows  the  last  words  of  many  Mother  Goose  melodies, 
as  moon  0;  place  0 ;  bare,  bare,  bare;  putting  them  in  at 
the  right  time,  enthusiastically." 

Some  words  are  invented  by  the  child.  E.g.,  the  word 
tern,  which  Taine's  little  girl  spontaneously  used  as  a  sort 
of  general  demonstrative,  "a  sympathetic  articulation,  that 
she  herself  has  found  in  harmony  with  all  fixed  and  distinct 
intention,  and  which  consequently  is  associated  with  her 
principal  fixed  and  distinct  intentions,  which  at  present  are 
desires  to  take,  to  have,  to  make  others  take,  to  look,  to 
make  others  look."  The  same  child  invented  the  word  ham 
to  signify  "  something  to  eat,"  just  as  Darwin's  boy  used 
mum  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  love  of  reduplication  shows  itself  very  distinctly  now, 
as  indeed  it  has  almost  from  the  beginning;  no  doubt  for 
the  physiological  reason  that  it  is  easier  for  the  vocal  organs 
to  execute  a  movement  over  again,  to  which  they  are  ad- 
justed, and  which  they  have  performed  once,  than  to  adjust 
themselves  to  a  new  movement.  Very  probably  the  love  of 
repetition  and  "  jingle  "  which  is  so  noticeable  in  children 
(and  which,  as  Sigismund  says,  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
rhyme),  also  enters  as  a  factor  here.  Numerous  examples 
of  the  onomatopoetic  naming  of  animals  and  things  may 
also  be  observed  at  this  time,  though  many  of  these  are,  no 
doubt,  imitated  from  grown-up  people.  One  or  both  of 
these  tendencies  may  be  observed  in  such  expressions  as 
the  following:  dada,  mama,  papa,  wawa  (water),  wait  wah 
or  oua  oua  or  bow  wow  (dog),  es  es  (yes),  ni  ni  (nice),  ko  ko 
(chicken),  puff  (ivind),  quack  quack  (duck),  golloh  or  lululu 
(all  rolling  objects),  bopoo  (bottle),  too  too  (cars),  tuppa  tuppa 
tee  (potato),  etc.  The  child  imitates  (often  spontaneously) 
the  sounds  made  by  the  dog,  cat,  sheep,  ticking  of  clock, 
etc.,  while  many  sounds  are  reduplicated.     The  opposite 


LANGUAGE  137 

process,  a  spontaneous  curtailing  of  certain  words,  may  be 
sometimes  noticed.  In  one  case  a  boy  of  fifteen  months 
contracted  papa,  mama  and  addie  into  pa,  ma  and  alt  respec- 
tively, having  never  heard  any  of  these  latter  words. 

Imitation  is  now  very  strong.  The  child  attempts  to  re- 
peat everything  he  hears ;  but  some  sounds  give  him  diffi- 
culty, and  the  shifts  to  which  he  resorts  in  such  cases  are  of 
very  great  interest.  The  boy  K.  used  to  say  nana  for  thank 
you,  and  dit  taut  for  get  caught  (in  play) ;  but  the  phrase 
excuse  me  was  too  much  for  him;  he  therefore  used  oho  in 
its  place,  with  a  rising  inflection  on  the  second  syllable. 
Singing  is  often  imitated  better  than  speech.  A  boy  of 
fourteen  months  "  gave  back  a  little  song,  in  the  right 
key " ;  and  another,  in  the  sixteenth  month,  knew  some 
simple  little  hymns. 

But  perhaps  the  most  interesting  thing  of  all  at  this  time 
is  the  gradual  " clearing"  of  the  childish  concepts,  as  indi- 
cated by  the  steady  circumscription  of  the  application  of 
names.  Even  yet,  however,  names  are  applied  much  too 
widely ;  much  more  experience  is  necessary  before  they  ac- 
quire, in  the  young  mind,  a  clear  and  definite  connotation. 
(Even  in  mature  life,  most  of  our  concepts  are  still  very 
hazy  and  ill-defined ;  and  it  might  be  allowable  to  describe 
the  whole  process  of  intellectual  education  as  a  process  of 
clarification  of  the  concept.)  It  is  interesting,  also,  to  note 
how  the  principle  of  association  enters  as  a  factor  in  the 
determination  of  the  application  of  the  name.  When  a 
child  calls  the  moon  a  lamp,  or  applies  his  word  bo  (ball)  to 
oranges,  bubbles  and  other  round  objects ;  calls  everything 
bow  toow  which  bears  any  sort  of  resemblance  to  a  dog  (in- 
cluding the  bronze  dogs  on  the  staircase,  and  the  goat  in  the 
yard) ;  applies  his  words  papa  and  mama  to  all  men  and  all 
women  respectively  ;  makes  his  word  ciitie  do  duty,  not  only 
for   knife,   but   also   for   scissors,   shears,   sickle,  etc.;    says 


138  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

bd  (bath)  on  seeing  a  crust  dipped  in  tea;  applies  ati 
(assis)  to  chair,  footstool,  bench,  sitting  down,  sit  down,  etc. ; 
peudu  (perdu)  or  atta  (gone  or  lost)  to  all  sorts  of  dis- 
appearances;—  it  is  evident  that  one  great  striking  resem- 
blance has  overshadowed  all  differences  in  the  objects. 
Another  child,  who  had  learned  the  word  at  as  a  name  for 
objects  that  were  too  warm,  extended  it  to  include,  also, 
objects  that  were  too  cold  (association  by  contrast).  Later, 
on  looking  at  a  picture,  he  pointed  to  the  representation  of 
clouds  and  said  6t.  The  clouds  reminded  him,  no  doubt,  of 
the  steam  from  the  tea-kettle.  This  aptitude  for  seizing 
analogies,  which  Taine  believes  to  be  the  source  of  gen- 
eral ideas  and  of  language,  has  numerous  illustrations,  not 
only  in  the  language  of  the  child  learning  to  speak,  but  also 
in  the  use  of  words  by  uncivilized  or  semi-civilized  peoples.1 

Fourth  Six  Months.  —  During  the  latter  half  of  the 
second  year  linguistic  progress  is  usually  so  rapid  as  to 
render  a  detailed  account  impossible.  We  can  only  call 
attention  to   some   of  the   most   striking   features. 

"  By  the  end  of  the  second  year,"  says  Schultze,  "  the 
normal  child  can  make  himself  understood  in  a  short  sen- 
tence." His  own  child  was  able,  at  nineteen  months,  to  use 
sentences  containing  subject,  predicate  and  object.  In  an- 
other case,  quite  a  complicated  sentence  (but  very  elliptical, 
only  the  nouns  being  uttered),  was  heard  in  the  twentieth 
month.  In  the  case  of  A.,  a  genuine  sorrow  was  the  occa- 
sion of  his  first  sentence.  His  father,  of  whom  he  was  very 
fond,  had  been  playing  with  him  for  some  time,  and  finally, 
being  called  away,  put  him  down  and  went  out,  closing  the 
door  behind  him.  The  child  gazed  for  a  moment  at  the 
closed  door,  and  then,  throwing  himself  on  the  floor,  cried 
out,  /  icant  my  papa.    Before  this  he  used  to  express  himself 

1  See  Romanes'  "  Mental  Evolution  in  Man,"  Chap.  VIII. 


LANGUAGE  139 

chiefly  in  elliptical  sentences  and  sentence-words.  When 
slightly  over  two  years  of  age,  he  used  to  weave  little  stories 
of  his  own;  e.g.,  mama  f A  wite  downy  toppy  houf.  One  day, 
while  the  dinner  was  waiting  for  his  father,  who  was  ex- 
pected home  on  the  train,  the  child  said  :  Toot-toot  corny 
ivite  up  tair,  inny  doh,  uppy  tapool;  toot-toot  make  big  noise. 
Another  of  his  sentences  was :  Take  a  badie  bidy  to;  badie 
tiehd,  feepy.  The  boy  C.  uttered  his  first  sentence  in  the 
twenty-first  month:  Pees  mama.  Two  months  earlier  he 
had  used  sentence-words ;  e.g.,  papa  cacker  {papa  has  fire- 
crarkcrs).  In  the  twenty- fourth  month  he  told  quite  an  ex- 
tensive story,  in  which  the  verbs  were  not  expressed.  Even 
compound  sentences,  and  sentences  containing  subordinate 
clauses,  are  often  mastered  before  the  close  of  this  period. 
Sometimes  verbal  inflections  appear ;  e.g.,  naughty  baby  klide 
(cried).  Another  day  the  same  child  said  corned  for  came, 
thus  unconsciously  rebuking  the  inconsistent  English  lan- 
guage. Interrogative  sentences  appeared  in  another  case  ; 
e.g.,  where's  ptissy  ?  and  negation  was  expressed  by  an  af- 
firmative sentence,  with  an  emphatic  no  tacked  on  at  the 
end,  exactly  as  the  deaf-mutes  do.  Many  of  these  primitive 
sentences  are  in  the  imperative  mood,  and  many  are  still 
"  sentence-words."  Most  children  talk  a  great  deal,  and 
gesticulate  profusely,  at  this  time.  Their  expressions  are 
concrete,  and  abstract  words  are  avoided  as  far  as  possible. 
A  little  boy,  on  seeing  the  picture  of  a  half-grown  lad,  spoke 
of  it  as  a  little  baby  man.  Anything  that  has  rhyme  or 
rhythm  is  most  easily  picked  up.  A  little  nephew  of  my 
own  was  able,  at  this  age,  to  sing  a  large  number  of  little 
songs  and  hymns,  giving  the  melody  quite  correctly.  An- 
other boy,  at  twenty-one  months,  on  hearing  the  milkman's 
bell,  used  to  say:  Mik  man  mik  cow,  crump  horn,  toss  dog, 
kiss  maid  all  florn;  or  peeping  through  the  fence  at  the 
cows,  would  sing :  Moo  coiv,  moo  cow,  how-de-do  cow. 


140  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

The  child's  progress  is  marked  here  by  his  gradual  mas- 
tery of  the  personal  and  possessive  pronouns.  These  are 
peculiarly  difficult  for  the  average  child,  and,  according  to 
Egger,  are  not  usually  attained  until  near  the  close  of  the 
second  year  ;  according  to  others,  much  later  still  (thirtieth 
month,  according  to  Lindner).  Previous  to  mastering  the 
I,  the  child  calls  himself  by  his  proper  name,  or  by  the 
name  baby,  as  he  may  have  been  taught.  When  I  first  ap- 
pears, it  is  frequently  employed,  —  quite  consistently  from 
the  child's  point  of  view,  —  not  in  the  first  person,  but  in 
the  second ;  i.e.,  he  calls  others  I  and  himself  you.  One 
child  used  the  word  I  correctly  as  early  as  the  nineteenth 
month,  but  often  exchanged  it  for  her  proper  name.  An- 
other, in  the  twentieth  month,  still  called  himself  by  his 
proper  name,  but,  a  month  later,  said  me  for  the  first  time. 
Another  spoke  of  me  as  a  personality  in  her  twenty-second 
month.  Another,  at  two  years,  often  used  the  word  my, 
meaning  your;  e.g.,  Let  me  get  up  on  my  lap.  Another,  at 
the  same  age,  still,  speaks  of  himself  as  baby  in  ordinary 
converse,  but  in  great  desire  says,  I  want  it,  and  in  great 
fear  says,  /  afraid. 

In  some  cases,  almost  all  the  sounds  are  mastered  by  the 
end  of  the  second  year,  but  from  the  observations  at  hand, 
this  may  be  considered  the  exception.  Most  children  still 
have  difficulty  with  certain  sounds.  Some  of  these  diffi- 
culties are  seen  in  the  following :  apoo  {apple),  zhatis  (there 
it  is),  es  (yes),  yleg  (egg ;  note  difficulty  with  initial  vowel), 
oken  (open),  tash  (mustache),  sh'ad  (thread),  dam  (gum),  Vdl 
(shaivl),  uppervater  (elevator),  nobella  (umbrella),  bannicars 
(banisters),  aio  yi  (all  right),  setto  (cellar),  pato  (potato),  it  da 
(sit  there).  One  observer  reports  a  special  difficulty  with  s, 
z,  d,  g,  k,  I,  n,  r  and  t.  Another  says  that  at  nineteen 
months,  the  sounds  .s,  sh,  ch  and  j  were  generally  indistinct ; 
while  10,  v  and  /  were  formed,  but  not  well  developed.     On 


LANGUAGE  141 

the  other  hand  nasal  g  appeared,  o  was  mastered,  I,  p  and 
t  as  final  consonants  began  to  be  used,  and  A;  became  a 
favorite  sound,  used  in  many  words.  Sibilants  were,  more 
at  command  when  final  than  when  initial,  while  short  a 
was  just  beginning  to  be  formed.  In  the  twenty-second 
month  the  sounds  of  ch,  j  and  th  were  still  imperfect,  the 
hard  sound  of  th  being  replaced  by  s  and  the  soft  sound 
by  z.  A  month  later,  r  was  still  generally  replaced  by  1-, 
when  s  came  before  another  consonant,  one  or  the  other 
was  dropped,  and  k  was  sometimes  confused  with  p  or  t. 
In  another  case,  the  double  consonant  sp  made  its  first  ap- 
pearance at  the  end  of  the  second  year. 

There  are  still  many  examples  of  the  inadequate  limi- 
tation of  the  concept.  In  one  case  the  word  2^00r)  which 
was  learned  as  an  expression  of  pity,  was  applied  on  occasion 
of  any  sort  of  loss  or  damage  whatsoever,  and  was  even 
used  in  speaking  of  a  crooked  pin.  Dam  (gum),  with  which 
toys  were  mended,  became  a  universal  remedy  for  all  things 
broken  or  disabled ;  and  afterwards,  when  the  child  ac- 
quired the  word  sli'ad  (thread),  broken  things  were  divided 
into  two  classes,  viz.,  those  that  were  to  be  mended  with 
dam,  and  those  that  were  to  be  mended  with  sh'ad.  Behwys, 
in  another  case,  was  at  first  the  name  for  all  small  fruits, 
but  afterwards  became  restricted,  yielding  a  portion  of  its 
territory  to  gape  (grape).  Another  boy"6xtended  his  word 
gee-gee  (horse)  to  a  drawing  of  an  ostrich,  and  a  bronze 
figure  of  a  stork ;  and  his  word  apoo  (apple)  to  a  patch  of 
reddish  brown  color  on  the  mantelpiece.  The  boy  C.  applied 
the  word  boke  (broke)  to  a  torn  pocket-handkerchief;  and  K. 
extended  his  word  do  (door)  to  everything  that  stopped  up 
an  opening  or  prevented  an  exit,  including  the  cork  of  a  bot- 
tle, and  the  little  table  that  fastened  him  in  his  high  chair. 

Healthy  children  of  two  years  of  age  will  usually  attempt 
all  sorts  of  sounds  in  imitation  of  others,  and  will   practice 


142  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

on  new  and  difficult  combinations  with  great  perseverance, 
sometimes  carrying  the  word  through  several  stages  of 
transition,  until  it  finally  assumes  the  perfect  form.  The 
boy  A.  first  heard  the  word  pussy  when  seventeen  months 
old;  he  at  once  undertook  to  say  it,  but  called  it  at  first 
pooheh,  then  poofie,  then  poopoohie,  then  poofee,  until  finally, 
after  much  persevering  practice,  he  was  able  to  say  pussy, 
when  he  seemed  to  be  satisfied,  and  discontinued  its  use, 
except  when  pussy  was  in  sight.  Schultze  gives,  among 
others,  the  following  examples:  the  German  word  ivasser 
passed  through  these  stages,  —  wawaff—fafaff—waffioaff 
—  ivasse  —  wasser ;  the  word  grosmama  was  first  omama, 
and  then  dosmama,  before  assuming  its  final  form.  The 
strength  of  the  reduplicating  tendency,  and  the  influence  of 
the  initial  consonant  on  the  remainder  of  the  word,  is  seen 
in  the  following  imitations:  voavoa  (Mary),  dudu  (Julia), 
ih  ih  (little),  ba  ba  (blanket),  fafa  (faster),  mama  (master), 
papa  (pasture),  nana  (naughty).1 

1 1  cannot  forbear  quoting  the  following  from  Sigismund  in  this  con- 
nection. A  child  of  twenty-one  months  attempted  to  repeat,  line  by  line, 
a  piece  of  poetry  after  another  person.  The  first  line  in  each  pair  repre- 
sents the  pronunciation  of  the  adult,  the  second  the  imitation  of  the  child : 

Guter  Mond,  du  gehst  so  stille, 
Tute  Bohnd,  du  tehz  so  tinne. 

Durch  die  Abendwolken  hin, 
Duch  die  Aten-honten  in. 

Gehst  so  traurig,  und  ich  fiihle, 
Tehz  so  tautech,  und  ich  biine. 

Dass  ich  ohne  Ruhe  bin, 
Dass  ich  one  Ule  bin. 

Guter  Mond,  du  darfst  es  wissen, 
Tute  Bohnd,  du  atz  es  bitten. 

Weil  du  so  verschwiegen  bist, 
Bein  do  so  bieten  bitz. 


LANGUAGE  143 

Vocabularies.  —  I  have  taken  the  trouble  to  collect,  for 
purposes  of  comparison,  a  number  of  vocabularies  of  children, 
which  have  been  recorded  by  careful  and  competent  observ- 
ers, with  as  much  completeness  and  accuracy  as  possible. 
I  will  now  give  these  in  summarized  form,  so  as  to  show 
the  relative  frequency  of  the  various  sounds  as  initial,  and 
also  the  relative  frequency  of  the  various  parts  of  speech. 
It  is  of  course  in  many  cases  a  very  difficult  thing  to  deter- 
mine with  certainty  what  idea  lies  back  of  a  given  utterance  ; 
and  the  younger  the  child,  the  greater  the  difficulty.  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  utterances  of  a  child  who  is  just 
beginning  to  speak  are  for  the  most  part  spontaneous  excla- 
mations, involving  no  real  distinction  of  those  ideas  that 
underlie  the  parts  of  speech.  But  I  believe  that  in  the  case 
of  the  following  tables,  the  children  had  reached  such  an 
age  that  the  results  from  this  point  of  view  are  of  great  value. 
In  order  the  more  accurately  to  show  the  sounds  actually 
made  by  the  child,  I  have  been  obliged  to  use  an  alphabet 
differing  somewhat  from  the  ordinary  English  alphabet. 
The  following  changes  are  made :  c  is  dropped  out  alto- 
gether, such  words  as  corner,  candy,  etc.,  being  classed  under 
k;  words  like  centre,  cigar,  etc.,  under  s;  and  words  like 
chain,  cheese,  chair,  etc.,  forming  a  new  series  under  ch. 
Words  like  George,  gentleman,  etc.,  are  classed  under  j 
instead  of  g;  words  like  Philip  under/;  words  like  knife, 
knee,  etc.,  under  n;  and  words  like  wrap,  write,  etc.,  under 
r.  Other  new  letters  besides  ch  are  sh  and  th.  In  short, 
it  is  sought  to  classify  the  child's  words  according  to  his 
pronunciation,  and  not  according  to  the  English  alphabet. 
If  he  says  tdtie  for  potato,  the  word  is  classed  under  t.     I 

Warura  meine  Thriinen  fliessen, 
Amum  rueine  Tanen  bieten. 

Und  mein  Herz  so  traurig  ist, 
Uiid  meiii  Aetz  so  atich  iz. 


144  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OP   CHILDHOOD 

am  convinced  that  this  is  the  only  way  to  obtain  reliable 
and  valuable  results. 

I.  A  child  of  nine  months  is  reported  as  speaking  "nine 
words  plainly."     The  words  are  not  given. 

II.  A  boy  at  twelve  months  has  "  four  words  of  his  own." 

III.  A  child  of  twelve  months  uses  ten  words  with  mean- 
ing. Six  of  these  are  nouns,  two  adjectives  and  two  verbs. 
The  initial  sounds  are  m  (three  times),  p  (four  times),  w,  a 
and  k  (each  once). 

IV.  A  child  of  one  year  used  eight  words,  seven  of  which 
were  nouns,  and  one  an  adverb.  The  initial  sounds  are  b 
(four  times),  ra,  p,  d  and  u  (one  each). 

V.  The  boy  R.  had  at  command  about  twenty  words, 
thirteen  of  which  were  nouns,  and  four  or  five  inter jectional 
words.     For  initial  sound  b  was  preferred,  then  p  and  t. 

VI.  Another  child  is  reported,  at  fifteen  months,  as  hav- 
ing "  syllables,  but  no  words." 

VII.  A  girl  of  seventeen  months  is  reported  as  using 
thirty-five  words,  twenty-two  of  which  are  nouns,  four 
verbs,  two  adjectives,  four  adverbs  and  three  interjections. 
The  initial  sounds  are  d  (eight  times),  s  (four),  m,  b 
and  cli  (three  each),  p,  t,  k,  a  and  y  (two  each),  i,  j,  n,  o 
(one  each). 

VIII.  A  girl  of  twenty-two  months  uses  twenty-eight 
words,  distributed  as  follows:  nouns  sixteen,  verbs  three, 
adjectives  three,  adverbs  and  interjections  five.  The  initial 
sounds  are  b  (six  times),  d  (five),  m  (four),  p  (three),  g,  h 
and  k  (two  each),  e,  i,  n  and  o  (one  each). 

IX.  A  girl  at  two  years  employs  thirty-six  words,  dis- 
tributed as  follows:  nouns  sixteen,  adjectives  four,  pro- 
nouns three,  verbs  seven,  adverbs  three,  interjections  three, 
initial  sounds  are  p  (five  times),  ra,  b  and  w  (each  four 
times),  y,  k  and  h  (each  three  times),  d,  i,  n  and  r  (each 
twice),  a  and  o  (each  once). 


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147 

"3 

1  IS        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

Summarizing  these  vocabularies,  we  find  some  interesting 
facts  bearing  on  language-growth,  both  on  the  physiological 
and  on  the  psychological  side. 

For  example,  with  regard  to  the  relative  frequency  of  the 
various  parts  of  speech,  the  following  table  is  instructive. 
Of  the  five  thousand  four  hundred  words  comprising  these 
vocabularies  1 

60    per  cent  are  nouns. 
20      "       "      "    verbs. 
9      "      "      "    adjectives. 
5      "       "      "    adverbs. 
2      a       «      "    pronouns. 
2      "       "      "    prepositions. 
1.7  "       "      "    interjections. 
0.3  "       "      "    conjunctions. 


100.0 


Of  the  nouns,  less  than  one  per  cent  are  abstract.  Nearly 
all  are  names  of  persons  or  familiar  objects.  The  majority, 
in  the  earlier  months,  seem  to  be  used  almost  with  the 
force  of  proper  nouns,  as  Schultheiss  has  also  observed.  The 
adjectives  are  mostly  those  of  size,  temperature,  cleanliness 
and  its  opposite,  and  similar  familiar  notions.  This  table 
also  corroborates  Sigismund's  observation  that  the  conjunc- 
tion is  especially  difficult.  Another  interesting  point  is  the 
comparison  of  the  above  table  with  a  similar  table,  showing 
the  relative  frequency  of  the  various  parts  of  speech  in 
ordinary  adult  language.  Professor  Kirkpatrick  says  that 
of  the  words  in  the  English  language, 

1  In  all  the  calculations  that  follow,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
include,  along  with  my  own  vocabularies,  those  of  Professor  Holden, 
and  Professor  Humphreys,  which  I  have  re-arranged  phonetically  for 
the  purpose. 


LANGUAGE  149 

60    per  cent  are  nouns. 
11      "       "      "    verbs. 
22     "       "      "   adjectives. 
5.5  "       "      "    adverbs. 

An  important  consideration  is  involved  here.  If  we  look 
only  at  the  first  of  these  two  tables,  and  consider  the 
child's  words  by  themselves,  it  will  seem  that  the  nouns 
have  greatly  the  advantage  over  the  other  parts  of  speech. 
But  such  a  conclusion  obviously  cannot  be  drawn,  unless  a 
comparison  of  the  child's  vocabulary  with  that  of  the  adult 
justifies  us  in  so  doing.  In  order  to  show  that  the  child 
learns  nouns  more  easily  than  verbs,  we  must  be  able  to 
show  that  the  number  of  his  nouns  bears  a  larger  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  nouns  he  will  use  as  an  adult,  than 
the  number  of  his  verbs  bears  to  the  number  of  verbs  he 
will  use  in  adult  life.  To  represent  the  matter  symboli- 
cally, 

Let    n  =  the  proportion  of  nouns  in  the  child's  vocabulary. 
And  N  =    "  "  "       "       "    "    man's  " 

Let    v  =    "  "  "  verbs   "    "    child's         " 

And  V  =     "  "  "       "       "    "    man's  " 

Then,  if  the  child  learns  nouns  more  easily  than  verbs, 
the  proportion  of  n  to  N  will  be  greater  than  that  of  v  to  V. 
But  on  comparing  the  two  tables,  the  very  opposite  is 
found  to  be  the  case. 

t?       n      60      1 

F°r  N  =  60=1 

ButT=iI  =  181  + 

In  other  words,  the  child  of  two  years  has  made  nearly 
twice  as  much  progress  in  learning  to  use  verbs  as  in  learn- 


150  THE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    CHILDHOOD 

ing  to  use  nouns  ;  according  to  my  tables  of  child-language 
and  Professor  Kirkpatrick's  table  of  adult-language.1  A 
comparison  of  the  adjectives  and  adverbs  in  the  two  tables 
justifies  a  similar  conclusion  in  favor  of  the  adverb.  To 
my  mind,  this  fact  —  which,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  been 
hitherto  overlooked  by  all  writers  on  child-language  —  pos- 
sesses great  value  for  philology  and  pedagogy  as  well  as  for 
psychology.  In  the  first  place  it  supports  the  view  that 
the  acquisition  of  language  in  the  individual  and  in  the  race 
proceeds  by  similar  stages  and  along  similar  lines.  Max 
Miiller  says  that  the  primitive  Sanscrit  roots  of  the  Indo- 
Germanic  languages  all  represent  actions  and  not  objects  ; 
that  in  the  race  the  earliest  ideas  to  assume  such  strength 
and  vividness  as  to  break  out  beyond  the  limits  of  gesture 
and  clothe  themselves  in  words  are  ideas  of  movement, 
activity.  We  have  found,  from  examination  of  the  vocabu- 
laries of  these  twenty-five  children,  that  the  ideas  which 
are  of  greatest  importance  in  the  infant  mind,  and  so  clothe 
themselves  most  frequently  (relatively),  in  words,  are  the 
ideas  of  actions  and  not  objects,  of  doing  instead  of  being. 
The  child  learns  to  use  action-words  (verbs)  more  readily 
than  object-words  (nouns) ;  and  words  descriptive  of  actions 
(adverbs)  more  readily  than  words  descriptive  of  objects 
(adjectives).2 


1  This  statement  is  still  further  confirmed  by  a  vocabulary  received 
since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition.  It  is  the  vocabulary  of  a  five- 
year-old  boy  in  Minneapolis.  Of  the  sixteen  hundred  words  spoken 
by  this  boy,  19  per  cent  were  verbs  and  only  53  per  cent  nouns. 

«  Professor  Kirkpatrick,  in  a  private  note,  suggests  that,  since  his 
tables  of  adult  language  are  taken  from  the  dictionary,  they  very  likely 
do  not  represent  truly  the  vocabulary  of  the  average  adult.  It  appears 
that,  in  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  the  proportion  of  nouns  to  verbs  is  not 
60  to  11,  but  45  to  24.  If  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  represents  the  average 
adult  vocabulary,  then  the  conclusions  stated  in  the  text  will  need 


LANGUAUi;  151 

In  the  second  place  this  fact  confirms  the  Froebelian 
principle,  on  which  child-education  is  coming  more  and 
more  to  be  based,  viz.,  that  education  proceeds  most  naturally 
(and,  therefore,  most  easily  and  rapidly)  along  the  line  of 
motor  activity.1  The  child  should  not  be  so  much  the 
receptacle  of  instruction,  as  the  agent  of  investigation.  Let 
him  do  things,  and  by  doing  he  will  most  readily  learn.  He 
should  not  he  passive,  but  active  in  his  own  education.  The 
kindergarten  is  the  modern  incarnation  of  this  idea,  but 
the  idea  itself  is  as  old  as  Aristotle,  who  says,  "  We  learn 
an  art  by  doing  that  which  we  wish  to  do  when  we  have 
learned  it;  we  become  builders  by  building,  and  harpers 
by  harping.  And  so  by  doing  just  acts  we  become  just, 
and  by  doing  acts  of  temperance  and  courage  we  become 
temperate  and  courageous." 2 

Turning  now  to  the  consideration  of  these  vocabularies 
from  the  standpoint  of  ease  or  difficulty  of  pronunciation  of 
the  various  simple  sounds,  we  find  some  instructive  data 
here  also.  The  following  table  shows  the  relative  frequency 
of  the  various  sounds  as  initial.  In  this  calculation  no  heed 
is  paid  to  the  English  spelling  of  the  words,  but  only  to  the 
sounds  actually  uttered  by  the  child,  as  already  pointed  out. 
Of  the  five  thousand  four  hundred  words 


revision.  I  imagine,  however,  that  in  a  book  so  full  of  action  as 
"  Robinson  Crusoe,"  the  verb  element  would  be  unusually  strong. 

1  My  colleague,  Professor  van  der  Smissen,  gives  me  the  very  interest- 
ing observation,  that  his  little  girl,  who  is  just  learning  to  talk,  uses 
many  sentences  in  which  the  verbs  are  not  spoken  at  all,  but  acted,  all 
the  other  words  in  the  sentence  being  spoken.  E.g.,  "  Willie  whipped 
the  pussy,"  would  be  expressed  by  the  words,  "Willie  .  .  .  pussy," 
accompanied  by  a  lively  slapping  movement  of  one  hand  upon  the 
other. 

3  "  Eth.  Nic,"  Book.  II.  Chap.  I.  par.  4. 


152  THE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    CHILDHOOD 

11      per  cent  begin  with  the  sound  of  6. 


0.3 

tt 

9 

li 

8 

it 

6.1 

ft 

6 

it 

6 

tt 

6 

it 

5.2 

tt 

4 

tt 

4 

tt 

3.2 

(( 

3.1 

It 

3 

a 

3 

a 

2 

a 

o 

tt 

a 

1.3 

it 

1.2 

tt 

1.1 

a 

1 

u 

1 

tt 

1 

(l 

0.8 

(i 

0.5 

it 

0.2 

ft 

u 

S. 

(( 

k. 

it 

P- 

a 

h. 

it 

d. 

a 

m. 

a 

t. 

a 

w. 

a 

/■ 

a 

n. 

it 

9- 

tt 

I. 

a 

a. 

a 

r. 

it 

i. 

tt 

sh. 

it 

th. 

it 

e. 

tt 

o. 

a 

ch. 

it 

j- 

a 

y- 

tt 

u. 

u 

V. 

it 

Q- 

A  glance  at  this  table  shows  how  prominent  a  place  the 
explosive  consonants  occupy  as  initial  sounds  in  child-lan- 
guage.1    The  vowels,  on  the  contrary,  though  undoubtedly 


1  The  vocabulary  of  the  five-year-old  Minneapolis  boy,  spoken  of  in 
a  previous  footnote,  conforms,  in  the  main,  to  this  order.  The  five 
sounds  he  used  most  frequently  as  initial  are  s,  p,  b,  k,f,  in  the  order 
named. 


LANGUAGE  153 

the  earliest  sounds  to  be  used  in  most  cases,  are  very  in- 
frequent as  initial,  not  only  absolutely  but  relatively.  In 
the  English  dictionaries  the  vowel  a  occupies  fourth  place 
as  initial  letter;  in  my  tables  it  occupies  fourteenth  place; 
while  the  other  vowels  stand  still  lower.  The  reason 
of  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  is  simply  a  case  of  the 
operation  of  the  law  of  physiological  ease  ;  as  any  one  may 
verify  by  pronouncing,  in  succession,  the  following  syl- 
lables :  ap,  pa,  ab,  ba,  ak,  ka,  am,  ma,  ad,  da;  and  observing 
how  much  more  easily  those  syllables  are  pronounced  in 
which  the  consonant  leads  and  the  vowel  follows. 

Another  interesting  feature  of  this  table  is  the  high  place 
occupied  by  the  guttural  k  as  initial  sound.  It  stands 
above  p  and  m,  and  next  to  s  and  b.  This  fact  does  not 
bear  out  the  theory  propounded  by  several  writers  on  child- 
language,  that  those  sounds  are  selected  by  the  child  foi 
earliest  acquirement  whose  pronunciation  involves  those 
portions  of  the  vocal  apparatus  which  are  most  easily  seen, 
such  as  the  lips.  According  to  this  theory,  not  only  the 
labial  p,  but  the  sounds  d,  m,f,  sh,  th,  etc.,  ought  to  stand 
high  in  the  list,  because  the  movements  involved  in  their 
pronunciation  are  plainly  visible ;  while  the  guttural  k, 
whose  movements  are  absolutely  out  of  sight,  should  stand 
very  low.  The  contrary  is  the  case ;  k  stands  third  in  the 
list  of  initial  sounds,  while  th,  whose  movements  are  exceed- 
ingly obvious  to  sight,  occupies  the  eighteenth  place.  This 
seems  to  prove  that  the  child  does  not  learn  to  utter  sounds 
hy  watching  the  mouths  of  those  who  utter  them  in  his 
presence ;  and  this  opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  observation 
of  Schultze,  that  the  child  does  not  usually  look  at  the 
mouth,  but  at  the  eyes  of  the  person  speaking  to  him.  On 
the  other  hand  there  seems  no  sufficient  ground  for  the 
statement  that  the  law  of  least  effort  is  overturned  by  this 
frequency  of  the  sound  of  k.     This  guttural  sound  is,  for 


154  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD 

most  children,  no  more  difficult  than  the  labials.  Often  it 
is  one  of  the  very  earliest  sounds  employed.  I  know  one 
child  with  whom  it  is  more  frequently  used  than  even  b.  In 
short,  so  far  as  my  observations  go,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  the  child's  earliest  vocal  utterances  are  not 
acquired  by  imitation  at  all,  either  of  sound  or  of  move- 
ment, but  that  they  are  purely  impulsive  in  their  character. 
They  are  simply  the  result  of  the  overflow  of  motor  energy, 
which  we  have  seen  so  prominent  in  other  departments  of 
the  child's  life ;  and  they  proceed  at  first  along  the  lines  of 
least  resistance. 

In  the  following  tables  I  have  given  the  results  of  a  care- 
ful examination  of  seven  hundred  instances  of  mispronun- 
ciation which  I  have  found  in  the  above  vocabularies.  The 
first  table  shows  the  various  sounds  in  the  order  of  the 
number  of  times  they  are  misused,  as  well  as  the  ways  in 
which  they  are  misused ;  the  second  and  third  tables  enter 
into  more  detail. 

In  the  following  table  the  first  column  gives  the  sound 
misused;  the  second  shows  the  number  of  times  it  is  re- 
placed by  another  sound ;  the  third  shows  how  often  it  is 
dropped,  without  being  replaced;  and  the  fourth  shows 
how  often  it  is  brought  into  a  word  to  which  it  does  not 
belong  (not  as  a  substitute  for  some  other  sound,  but  as  a 
pure  interpolation,  for  no  apparent  reason). 


LANGUAGE 


155 


Sound 
Miauied. 

Re- 
placed. 

Dropped. 

Inter- 
polated. 

Total. 

Sound 
Kunwad. 

Re- 
placed. 

Dropped. 

Inter- 
polated. 

Total. 

R 

51 

87 

4 

142 

w 

7 

5 

3 

15 

L 

35 

70 

105 

Ch 

13 

13 

S 

25 

34 

1 

60 

Y 

1 

10 

1 

12 

G 

25 

6 

31 

V 

8 

2 

10 

T 

13 

17 

1 

31 

E 

2 

5 

7 

Sh 

26 

4 

30 

H 

2 

6 

7 

K 

20 

8 

28 

J 

5 

5 

Th 

21 

2 

23 

P 

4 

1 

5 

(hard) 

A 

4 

4 

F 

15 

4 

1 

20 

M 

4 

4 

D 

5 

12 

2 

19 

Wh 

3 

3 

Th 

14 

4 

18 

O 

3 

3 

(soft) 

B 

3 

3 

Nf? 

15 

15 

Z 

1 

1 

2 

N 

7 

7 

1 

15 

Q 

1 

1 

The  following  table  shows  the  relative  frequency  of 
replacement  of  the  sounds  when  initial,  medial,  and  final, 
and  also  (in  the  case  of  the  consonants)  when  occurring 
as  one  member  of  a  double  consonant  (e.g.,  as  r  in  cream). 
It  also  gives  the  relative  frequency  of  the  substituted 
sounds : 


Sound 
Replaced. 

When 

Initial. 

When 

Medial. 

When 
Final. 

When 
Double. 

Replaced 
by 

Times. 

Examples. 

w 

29 

kweem    (cream). 

1 

6 

tOinmolla  (tomorrow). 

R 

21 

21 

9 

4 

y 

e 

V 

t 
m 

P 
k 

3 

8 

all  ylte    (all  right), 
tumblie  (tumbler), 
voom       (room), 
tautech  (traurig). 

pipe        (ripe). 
Kaka      (Carrie). 

156 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 


Sound 
Replaced. 

When 

Initial. 

When 
Medial. 

When 
Final. 

When 
Double. 

Replaced 
by. 

Times. 

Examples. 

L 

8 

8 

19 

3 

e 

w 

u 

n 

t 

b 

d 

oo 

9 
7 
7 
4 
3 
2 
2 
1 

minnie     (milk), 
tabie        (table), 
singu        (shingle), 
setta         (celery), 
bampe      (lampe). 
degen       (legen). 
apoo        (apple). 

Sh 

17 

2 

7 

s 
h 
b 
t 
n 

19 
4 
1 
1 
1 

fis             (fish), 
hoogar     (sugar). 

tooz         (shoes). 

S 

18 

4 

3 

6 

t 
h 
f 
b 
d 

8 
8 
3 
3 
3 

tweet       (sweet), 
hlate        (slate), 
poof  ee      (pussy) . 

dide         (side). 

G 

19 

5 

1 

4 

d 
k 
t 
b 
w 

J 
n 

17 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 

dass         (glass), 
hookoo     (sugar), 
toss          (gross), 
bavy        (gravy), 
detting    (getting). 

Th  (hard) 

11 

3 

7 

6 

f 
t 
s 

P 
d 

n 

10 
4 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 

free          (three), 
mous        (mouth), 
tank         (thank), 
harf          (hearth), 
nuppin     (nothing) 

E 

11 

7 

2 

7 

t 
s 

g 
d 

15 
2 
2 
1 

bastet      (basket), 
sun           (come), 
untie        (uncle), 
tanny       (candy). 

F 

7 

4 

4 

2 

P 

s 
k 
t 

6 

5 

I 

nup          (enough). 

buttersy   (butterfly). 

kork         (fork). 
6t            (off). 

LANGUAGE 


157 


Sound. 

When 
Initial. 

When 

Medial. 

When 

Final. 

When 
Double. 

Replaced 

Times. 

Examples. 

Ng 

5 

10 

1 

n 
e 
a 

12 
2 
1 

finner       (finger), 
tockies  (stockings). 

lockatair  (rocking  chair). 

Th  (soft) 

11 

3 

d 
m 

13 

1 

altogedder  (altogether). 

dare         (there) . 

T 

7 

e 
k 
w 
g 
P 

6 
4 
1 
1 
1 

dockie      (doctor), 
bankie     (blanket), 
jackie       (jacket), 
coak         (coat), 
wawer     (water). 

Ch 

9 

2 

2 

1 

s 

t 

sh 

7 
4 
2 

sair          (chair), 
tillens     (children), 
shick        (chick). 

V 

1 

5 

2 

b 
f 
d 

5 
2 
1 

gib           (give), 
shufer      (shovel) . 
Dadie      (David). 

N 

1 

6 

e 

m 

1 

4 
2 
1 

buttie      (button), 
pim          (pin). 

lemolade  (lemonade). 

W 

6 

1 

V 

1 

6 
1 

go  vay   (go  away), 
lalla         (water). 

D 

1 

4 

n 

t 
k 

2 
2 
1 

towntownt(down  town), 
vinner     (window), 
kankie     (candy). 

J 

4 

1 

d 

g 

4 

1 

demidon  (demijohn). 
Gekkie    (Jessie). 

P 

3 

1 

1 

b 
t 

2 

2 

bee          (please), 
patie        (paper). 

M 

2 

2 

k 
n 
w 

2 
1 

1 

hankie    (hammer). 
Waggie    (Maggie). 

Wh 

3 

f 
h 

2 
1 

feel          (wheel), 
haiah       (where). 

158 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OP  CHILDHOOD 


Sound 
Replaced. 

When 

Initial. 

When 
Medial. 

When 
Final. 

When 
Double. 

Replaced 
by. 

Times. 

Examples. 

0 

3 

a 
e 

2 

winna     (window). 

B 

1 

2 

d 
m 

badie       (baby) . 
Milly       (Billy). 

E 

2 

a 

00 

vera        (very), 
cookoo    (cookie) 

H 

1 

1 

t 
1 

torns       (horns), 
la  lo        (lahaut). 

Y 

1 

e 

bewo       (bureau). 

Z 

1 

d 

Doderfeen  (Josephine). 

Q 

1 

k 

skeeze     (squeeze). 

The  following  table  gives  similar  information  with  regard 
to  the  dropping  of  difficult  sounds : 


Sound 
Dropped. 

When 
Initial. 

When 
Medial. 

When 
Final. 

When 
Double. 

Examples. 

K 

2 

61 

24 

50 

each        (reach), 
apicot      (apricot), 
dotta       (daughter), 
baselet    (bracelet) . 

L 

10 

37 

23 

39 

etta  be    (let  me  be), 
peeze       (please) . 
fa            (fall), 
buttafy   (butterfly). 

S 

27 

4 

3 

30 

poon        (spoon). 
Bottie     (Boston), 
ga           (gas), 
tabewie  (strawberry). 

LANGUAGE 


159 


Sound 
Dropped. 

When 

Initial. 

When 
Medial. 

When 

Final. 

When 
Double. 

Examples. 

T 

9 

8 

8 

dissance    (distance), 
bonny       (bonnet), 
sottin        (stocking). 

D 

1 

6 

6 

12 

sanny       (sandy), 
gamma     (grandma), 
bines         (blinds). 

Y 

6 

4 

ard           (yard) . 
panna       (piano). 

E 

4 

2 

2 

2 

opf            (kopf). 
basset       (basket). 
boo           (book). 

N 

1 

6 

1 

pi              (pin), 
burr          (burn) . 

G 

6 

1 

atten         (garten). 

W 

6 

ont            (want), 
oodn't       (wouldn't). 

E 

3 

2 

nuff           (enough), 
koff           (coffee). 

H 

5 

eah           (here). 

Sh 

4 

litta          (schlitten). 

F 

3 

1 

2 

satie  pin  (safety  pin), 
natanoon  (afternoon). 

Th  (soft) 

3 

1 

at              (that). 
ober  air    (over  there). 

A 

4 

fa.de          (afraid), 
nudda       (another). 

Th  (hard) 

2 

ba             (bath), 
mao          (mouth) . 

V 

1 

1 

ammum    (warum). 
Duttie       (Gustave). 

P 

1 

tatie          (potato). 

Z 

1 

no             (nose). 

160  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

A  word  of  caution  is  perhaps  necessary  here.  These 
tables  do  not  show  accurately  the  order  of  difficulty  of  the 
various  sounds,  inasmuch  as  they  indicate  the  misuse  of  the 
sounds,  not  relatively  to  the  number  of  correct  pronuncia- 
tions of  each  sound,  but  only  relatively  to  the  total  number 
of  mispronunciations.  For  example,  in  the  first  table  q 
seems  an  easier  sound  than  b,  because  it  is  only  misused 
once,  while  b  is  misused  three  times.  But  if  we  remember 
that  in  the  vocabularies  b  occurs  fifty-five  times  as  often  as 
q,  the  case  is  entirely  altered.  Considered  in  this  way,  the 
order  of  difficulty,  according  to  my  observations,  is  approx- 
imately the  following :  r,  I,  th,  v,  sh,  y,  g,  ch,  s,  j,  e,f,  t,  n,  q, 
d,  k,  o,  w,  a,  h,  m,  p,  b.  The  most  difficult  sound  is  r  and 
the  easiest  b. 

It  will  be  observed  also  that,  according  to  these  tables, 
mispronunciation  is  very  frequent  in  the  case  of  double  con- 
sonants, and  most  frequent  of  all  in  those  combinations 
which  belong  to  what  Mr.  Pitman  calls  the  pi  and  pr  series. 
Such  words  as  cream,  bracelet,  and  fly  are  almost  always 
mutilated;  sometimes  r  and  I  are  replaced  by  w  or  some 
other  sound ;  sometimes  they  are  omitted  altogether. 

Another  thing  to  be  observed  is  that  the  choice  of  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  difficult  sound  is  often  determined  by  the  prom- 
inent consonant  in  the  preceding  or  succeeding  syllable. 
This  leads  to  a  reduplication  of  the  easier  sound  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  use  of  the  more  difficult  one.  The  child  says 
cawkee  for  coffee,  kork  for  fork,  or  la  lo  for  la  haut.  The 
number  of  these  reduplications  is  very  large,  and  the  device 
is  adopted  also  in  the  case  of  difficult  vowels  ;  e.  g.,  Deedie 
occurs  for  Edie,  and  Dlda  for  Ida. 

Another  significant  thing  is  the  frequency  with  which  the 
sound  of  e  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  difficult  sounds,  both 
vowel  and  consonantal,  especially  at  the  end  of  a  word.  The 
child  says  ittie  for  little,  Jinnie  iov  finger,  and  ninnie  for  drink. 


LANGUAGE  161 

In  addition  to  the  mispronunciations  tabulated  above,  I 
find  a  large  number  of  miscellaneous  mispronunciations 
difficult  to  classify,  such  as  the  following :  medniss  for 
medicine,  Mangie  fag  for  American  flag,  skoogie  for  excuse 
me,  kidlie  for  tickle,  pa-ta-soo  for  patent  leather  shoes,  etc. 

If  we  seek  now  to  discover  some  principle  underlying  the 
development  of  child-speech  from  the  psychic  point  of  view, 
we  shall  find,  I  believe,  that  principle  of  transformation, 
which  we  have  already  observed  so  frequently  elsewhere, 
operating  in  this  sphere  also.  The  earliest  utterances  of 
the  new-born  have  little  or  no  psychic  significance.  As 
expressions  of  his  thought,  they  have  none  at  all.  But  by 
slow  degrees  these  primitive  utterances,  modified,  increased 
and  combined,  are  associated  with  ideas,  which  are  also 
modified,  increased  and  combined,  until  finally  the  instru- 
ment of  language  is  completely  under  control,  and  becomes 
the  adequate  medium  for  the  expression  of  thought. 

Not  only  may  we  make  this  statement  in  this  general  way, 
but  it  seems  possible  to  trace,  with  approximate  minuteness, 
the  progress  of  a  sound  upward,  from  the  earliest  unexpres- 
sive  condition  to  the  highest,  latest,  most  expressive  state, 
and  to  indicate  the  principal  stages  on  the  way.  These 
stages  appear  to  be  the  same  as  those  through  which  move- 
ments pass,  viz.,  the  impidsive,  the  reflex,  the  instinctive,  and 
the  ideational.  The  first  sounds  uttered  by  the  child  are 
simply  the  spontaneous  will-less,  idea-less  manifestation  of 
native  motor  energy.  They  do  not  require  a  sensory,  but 
only  a  motor  process,  and  that  motor  process  is  automatic. 
The  same  overflowing  energy,  the  same  muscle-instinct, 
which  impels  the  child  to  grasp  with  the  hands,  to  kick 
with  the  feet,  etc.,  impels  him  also  to  the  exercise  of  his 
lips,  tongue,  larynx  and  lungs.  This  is   the  impulsive 

stage.  Then  we  find  him  uttering  sounds  in  response 
to    certain    sensations.     He   sees  a  bright   light,  hears   a 


162  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

peculiar  sound,  feels  a  soft,  ■warm  touch,  and  these  sen- 
sations call  forth  certain  sounds.  These  sounds  are  still 
only  babblings,  not  involving  the  cooperation  of  will,  but 
they  do  involve  sensory  as  well  as  motor  processes.  The 
reflex  arc,  in  its  simplest  form,  is  complete.  Here  imitation 
takes  its  rise.  This  is  the  reflexive  stage.  In  the  next  place 
we  can  detect  certain  sounds  which  are  expressive  of  the 
child's  needs,  and  though  still  uttered  probably  without 
conscious  intention,  yet  have  a  purpose  and  an  end,  viz., 
the  satisfaction  of  those  needs.  The  cry,  which  was  at  first 
monotonous  and  expressionless,  now  becomes  differentiated 
to  express  various  states  of  feeling,  hunger,  pain,  weariness, 
etc.  Here  we  have  the  instinctive  stage.  Finally  the  will 
takes  full  possession  of  the  apparatus  of  speech,  the  child 
utters  his  words  with  conscious  intention ;  imitation  of 
sounds,  from  being  passive  and  unconscious,  becomes  active 
and  conscious ;  and  words  are  joined  together  to  give  ex- 
pression to  ideas  of  constantly  increasing  complexity.  Here 
we  have  reached  the  ideational  or  deliberative  stage. 

As  an  example  of  the  transformation  of  a  single  sound 
through  all  these  successive  stages,  let  us  take  that  sound 
which  is,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the  first  articulation,  the 
syllable  ma.  At  first  this  is  pure  spontaneity.  The  child 
lies  contentedly  in  his  cradle,  motor  energy  overflows,  the 
lips  move,  gently  opening  and  closing,  while  the  breath  is 
expired,  and  this  sound  is  produced,  mamamama.  As  yet 
it  has  no  meaning  ;  it  is  a  purely  automatic  utterance.  But 
by  and  by  the  same  sound  is  called  forth  by  certain  sensa- 
tions, one  of  which  is  very  probably  the  sight  of  the  mother, 
or  of  some  other  person.  The  word  as  yet  has  no  definite 
meaning,  but  is  merely  a  sort  of  vague  demonstrative  ejacu- 
lation, a  pure  reflex.  Later  it  becomes  the  expression  of 
certain  bodily  needs  and  conditions,  and  now  the  hungry 
child  utters  this  sound  as  the  expression  of  the  need  of  his 


LANG1  A.6E  103 

natural  nourishment.  By  tliis  means,  the  word  becomes 
firmly  associated  with  the  mother,  first  probably  with  the 
breast  only,  but  afterwards  with  her  person  in  general, 
and  so  the  final  step  in  the  transition  is  made,  and  the  word 
mamma  now  passes  out  of  the  semiconscious,  instinctive 
stage  into  the  ideational.  It  becomes  firmly  associated  wil  h 
the  mother,  and  with  her  only ;  it  is  used  with  a  conscious 
purpose  of  communicating  to  her  the  child's  wishes  and 
ideas,  and  finally,  in  her  absence,  it  is  used  in  such  a  way 
as  to  show  that  her  image  is  firmly  stamped  on  his  mind 
and  retained  in  his  memory.  In  later  life,  more  abstract 
and  complex  applications  of  this  word  are  gradually  mas- 
tered; but  we  have  followed  it  far  enough  in  its  devel- 
opment for  our  present  purpose.  This  word  was  chosen 
because  it  probably  exemplifies  better  than  any  other  the 
principle  which  we  desired  to  illustrate,  being  associated 
with  those  feelings  which  arise  earliest,  last  longest,  and 
take  the  deepest  hold  upon  the  human  soul ;  but  almost 
any  primitive  utterance  of  infancy  could  be  employed  to 
exemplify,  in  a  less  complete  manner,  the  principle  enun- 
ciated. 

IV.    Disorders  of  Speech 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  apparatus  of 
speech  is  in  the  little  child  as  yet  undeveloped.  Only  grad- 
ually does  he  obtain  control  of  the  mechanism  involved  in 
breathing  ;  only  by  degrees  does  the  larynx  (the  organ  for 
the  production  of  tone)  perfect  itself;  the  organs  of  artic- 
ulation (lips,  tongue,  soft  palate)  require  much  exercise  in 
order  to  express  sounds  correctly ;  only  gradually  does  the 
brain  become  capable  of  so  regulating  the  breath,  the  voice, 
and  the  articulation,  that  normal  speech  is  produced.  But 
in  some  cases  the  brain  fails  to  acquire  the  capacity  to 
bring  these  three  components  of  the  speech  apparatus  into 


104  THE    PSYCHOLOGY'    OK    CHILDHOOD 

harmonious  cooperation ;  whence  follows  the  disorder 
known  as  stuttering.  Since  the  required  cooperation  is 
hindered  by  convulsive  processes  in  the  nerve-centres,  stut- 
tering is  a  nervous  disorder.  The  stutterer  can  produce 
the  individual  sounds  correctly,  but  he  is  not  able  to  com- 
bine them  into  syllables.  Does  he  wish  to  speak  the  word 
"  house,"  for  example,  he  may,  through  convulsion  in  the 
breathing  process,  experience  difficulty  with  the  aspirate 
sound.  If  he  wishes  to  say  "  Adolph,"  a  convulsion  in  the 
muscle  that  opens  or  closes  the  glottis  may  hinder  him  in 
the  production  of  the  "A."  If  he  wishes  to  say  "Mother," 
he  may  be  hindered  in  the  production  of  "  M,"  by  a  con- 
vulsion in  the  muscle  that  closes  the  lips.  Consequently, 
he  speaks  somewhat  thus :  "  H-H-H-ouse ;  A-A-A-dolph ; 
M-M-M-other." 

Stuttering  may  be  found  already  fully  developed  in  chil- 
dren two  years  of  age;  and  in  the  school  age  it  shows  a 
considerable  increase.  According  to  statistics  made  by  the 
teachers  of  Berlin  in  1887, 

6.2  per  cent  of  the  stutterers  were  from    6  to    7  years  old. 

11.7  per  cent  of  the  stutterers  were  from    7  to    8  years  old. 

11.1  per  cent  of  the  stutterers  were  from  8  to  9  years  old. 
13.5  per  cent  of  the  stutterers  were  from    9  to  10  years  old. 

14.2  per  cent  of  the  stutterers  were  from  10  to  11  years  old. 

13.8  per  cent  of  the  stutterers  were  from  11  to  12  years  old. 
14.4  per  cent  of  the  stutterers  were  from  12  to  13  years  old. 
16.1  per  cent  of  the  stutterers  were  from  13  to  14  years  old. 

Investigations  made  in  several  other  places  yielded  similar 
results.  In  the  Berlin  public  schools  about  1  per  cent  of 
the  pupils  were  stutterers.  Stuttering  is  more  frequent 
among  boys  than  among  girls,  nearly  in  the  ratio  of  three  to 
two.  It  is  important  that  teachers  should  note  that  stutter- 
ing may  begin  through  imitation;  a  stuttering  pupil  may 
infect  his  schoolmates  who  have  normal  speech. 


LANGUAGE  105 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  most  children  have 
difficulty  with  the  pronunciation  of  certain  sounds  up  to  the 
end  of  their  second  year.  By  the  time  they  enter  school, 
the  majority  are  able  to  pronounce  all  sounds  correctly; 
and  yet  even  at  this  age  cases  of  imperfect  pronunciation  are 
quite  frequent.  K  and  G  are  replaced  by  T  and  D  respec- 
tively ;  the  lingual  K,  by  the  palatal  R ;  S  and  L  are  imper- 
fectly pronounced,  etc.  This  disorder  of  speech  is  called 
stammering ;  and  it  has  its  cause  either  in  bad  teaching 
and  training,  or  in  defects  of  the  organs  of  articulation. 

Stammering  and  stuttering  must  not  be  confounded  with 
each  other,  for  they  differ  essentially.  The  stammerer  muti- 
lates individual  sounds ;  the  stutterer  brings  out  each  sound 
correctly.  Stuttering  is  attended  by  peculiar  tremors,  and 
the  stutterer  shows  embarrassment  under  observation, 
whereas  the  stammerer  usually  speaks  better  under  those 
conditions.  Hence  it  follows  that  for  each  of  these  disor- 
ders of  speech  there  is  a  distinct  method  of  treatment. 


CHAPTER   VI 

AESTHETIC,    MORAL,   AND  RELIGIOUS  IDEAS 

In  former  editions  I  have  not  ventured  into  this  large  and 
important  field;  and  I  do  so  now,  not  with  any  thought  of 
covering  it,  but  merely  to  draw  attention  to  some  of  the 
more  significant  features,  which  recent  investigations  have 
brought  to  light,  as  marking  the  development  of  the  average 
child  in  these  aspects  of  his  nature. 

I.    The  Child's  Sense  of  the  Beautiful 
In  discussing  the  development  of  the  aesthetic  in  child- 
hood, I  shall  refer  more  especially  to  the  appreciation  of  the 
beautiful,  and  to  the  reproduction,  by  children,  in  pictures, 
of  objects  presented  to  their  view. 

Children,  at  a  very  early  age,  are  attracted  by  bright 
colors.  As  early  as  the  third  or  fourth  month  they  have 
been  observed  to  look  fixedly  at  gayly  colored  objects,  such 
as  tassels,  curtains,  and  even  pictures.  There  is,  of  course, 
in  the  latter  case,  no  comprehension  of  the  picture  as  a 
representation.  The  symbolic  and  representative  character 
of  the  picture  is  entirely  lost  on  the  young  child.  The 
picture  is  to  him  a  real  object.  He  sees  it  merely  as  a  fact, 
a  presentation,  and  not  at  all  as  a  symbol.  In  the  same  way 
his  own  image  in  the  mirror  is  to  him  at  first  merely  a 
presentation.  Children  must  learn  gradually,  through  ex- 
perience, the  symbolic  and  representative  character  of  all 
such  things. 

If  this  be  true,  it  follows  also  that  the  young  child  cannot 
and  does  not  draw  pictures  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term. 

166 


^ESTHETIC,    MORAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS    IDEAS        167 

That  is  to  say,  there  is  an  age  at  which  he  cannot  under- 
stand anything  as  a  symbol  or  representation,  and  therefore 
he  cannot  consciously  and  intentionally  produce  a  picture 
as  a  representation  of  an  object.  In  fact,  we  find  here  the 
same  law  of  development,  involving  the  same  principle  of 
transformation,  as  we  have  found  everywhere  else  in  the 
mental  life  of  childhood.  The  first  performance  of  a  child 
with  a  pencil  and  paper  is  merely  an  aimless  scribble, 
involving,  on  the  mental  side,  nothing  more  than  an  outflow 
of  energy,  with  possibly  a  vague,  sensori-motor  imitation 
of  movements  made  by  older  persons  in  his  presence.  The 
product  is,  of  course,  not  a  representation,  though  it  may, 
by  accident,  resemble  some  object.  There  was  no  inten- 
tion to  produce  a  representation,  no  attempt  to  project  on 
the  paper  any  idea  in  the  mind. 

Beginning  probably  about  the  third  or  fourth  year,  we 
may  observe  the  dawning  of  the  idea  of  representation. 
The  child  now  begins  to  draw  objects;  and  it  is  of  the 
greatest  interest  to  observe  what  are  the  things  with  which 
he,  by  preference,  occupies  himself.  Ninety-nine  per  cent 
of  the  drawings  at  this  age  are  drawings  of  human  beings, 
or,  at  least,  are  intended  to  represent  human  beings.  Not 
only  may  we  see  this  prevailing  interest  in  human  person- 
ality, —  as  might  be  expected,  if  we  bear  in  mind  the  fact 
that  the  child  is  surrounded  from  the  beginning  of  his  life 
by  human  beings,  and  looks  to  them  constantly  for  the  sat- 
isfaction of  his  wants,  —  but  we  may  also  observe  how 
strongly  children's  interests  are  aroused  by  things  that 
move,  in  preference  to  those  that  are  at  rest.  He  tries  to 
represent  the  man  walking  or  running,  swinging  his  arms, 
and,  in  all  probability,  puffing  great  wreaths  of  smoke  from 
an  immensely  elongated  pipe.  If  he  draws  a  house,  it  is 
with  an  abundance  of  chimneys,  all  smoking  profusely. 

But  all  this  comes  at  a  somewhat  more  advanced  stage. 


168  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

The  earliest  drawings  are  very  rude,  and  conspicuously 
lacking  in  fulness  of  detail.  The  child  appears  perfectly 
rontent  with  the  crudest  sort  of  a  representation,  with 
something  that  can  scarcely  be  called  a  picture  at  all,  but 
is  rather  a  mere  symbol  standing  for,  rather  than  resembling, 
he  object.  A  rude  square  or  circle,  with  perhaps  a  couple 
of  lines  projecting  from  the  lower  side,  is  at  this  stage  a 
satisfactory  representation  of  a  man.  Some  children  add 
an  abundance  of  mere  scribble  instead  of  details;  scribble 
for  hands,  hair,  clothing,  etc.  Indeed,  the  evolution  of  the 
pictorial  art  in  childhood  is  marked  by  the  gradual  decrease 
and  final  elimination  of  scribble ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  by 
the  gradual  increase  in  fulness  and  accuracy  of  detailed 
delineation.  Dr.  Lukens  *  found  that  the  scribble-element 
had  well-nigh  disappeared  in  the  fifth  year.  This,  of 
course,  would  vary  greatly  with  different  children. 

We  must  notice  one  more  interesting  feature  of  chil- 
dren's drawings.  For  a  considerable  time  after  the  scribble- 
element  has  been  tolerably  well  eliminated,  the  child  is  still 
unable  to  distinguish  between  what  he  sees  of  the  object 
before  him,  and  what  he  knows  about  the  object.  In  other 
words,  he  is  unable  to  comprehend  perspective.  And  hence, 
in  his  pictures,  he  attempts,  not  a  mere  delineation,  but  a 
description  of  the  object.  He  shows  both  eyes,  and  perhaps 
both  ears,  in  a  profile  of  the  human  face.  He  draws  a  house 
with  three  sides  visible,  and  shows  you  both  the  legs  of  a 
man  riding  on  horseback.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  in  fact, 
that  the  child's  earliest  knowledge  of  an  object  is  of  a 
"  vague  whole  " ;  and  that  his  comprehension  of  parts  and 
relations  of  parts,  as  well  as  his  knowledge  of  how  the  object 
presents  itself  to  the  observer  who  is  viewing  it  from  one 
standpoint  only  (as  in  a  picture),  these  are  achievements  of 

1  Pedagogical  Seminary,  IV. ,  1, 


AESTHETIC,    MOKAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS    IDEAS        1U9 

abstraction  which  require  time  and  experience.  It  seems 
therefore  an  unwise  method  that  requires  the  child  to  begin 
by  drawing  such  abstractions  as  lines  and  points,  which  are 
never  found  in  nature.  Let  him  begin  by  drawing  a  whole, 
real  object,  even  though  he  draw  it  ever  so  crudely.  The 
whole,  real  object  is  the  concrete,  and  should  precede  the 
line  and  the  point,  which  are  abstractions. 

Of  the  decorative  as  distinguished  from  the  representative 
in  the  art  of  childhood,  but  little  can  be  said,  so  far  as  the 
child  under  seven  years  of  age  is  concerned.  The  element 
of  ornamentation  was  found,  in  Mrs.  Maitland's  examina- 
tion of  sixteen  hundred  spontaneous  drawings  made  by 
children  of  five  to  seven  years,  to  be  only  3  per  cent  of 
the  whole.  Dr.  O'Shea  asked  a  number  of  children  to  draw 
an  ornamented  chair.  He  found  that 
children  of  five  years  ignored  the  orna- 
mentation altogether.  This  is  entirely 
in  keeping  with  the  fact,  already  no- 
ticed elsewhere,  that  a  child's  thought 

about  an  object  is  closely  bound   up  FlG- 2-    A  man-     Draw- 

...  ,  .,  iug    by  au    American 

with  its  use  or  purpose,  and  its  spon-      girl  of  two  yt..u.s  a]l(1 

taneous  definitions  of  objects  invariably  three  months.  [After 
make  this  feature  prominent.  Ho  in  Lukens.) 
drawing.  The  parts  of  the  object 
prominently  concerned  in  its  use  or  ac- 
tion are  prominently  portrayed ;  while 
those  parts  whose  functions  are  not 
obvious  are  likely  to  be  ignored. 

A  comparison   of  the   drawings   of  fig.  3.    A  man.    Draw- 
children    with  those   of   savages    and      i"g  bY iin  English  boy 

,  .    .  .         .  ,  ,.  of  two    years    anil   six 

prehistoric  peoples  is  very  interesting  mm^  J  {A/(rr  8yUy) 
and  instructive.      The  two  groups  of 

drawings  surprise  one  by  their  similarity.  Though  the  adult 
savage  is  superior  to  the  child  in  artistic  skill  in  general, 


170 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 


yet  the  two  groups  of  drawings  show  defects  of  the  same 

general  character.     If  one  considers  the  child-drawings  in 

Figs.  3,  4,  14,  and  15,  and  the  drawings  made  by  savages,  in 

Figs.  20,  21,  22,  23,  25,  and  30,  it  will  be 

observed  at  once  that  the  first  attempts 

to  represent  men  begin  with  the  head  ;  and 

to  this  are  added  some  lines  to  represent 

arms  and  legs,  the  trunk  being  omitted. 

The  drawings  of  animals  (Figs.  5a,  56,  27) 

show  a  similar  incompleteness.    Children's 

attempts  to  depict  action  (Figs.  7,  8,  9a,  96, 

10, 11a,  116,  lie,  12)  may  be  compared  with 

Fig.  24,  drawn  by  an  Indian,  and  showing 

Fig.  4.  a  man  in  the  act  of  shooting;   or  with 

A  man.  Drawing  by   Fig.  25,  showing  a  man  smoking  a  pipe;  or 

an  English  boy  in    with  -pig.  31,  drawn  by  a  prehistoric  artist, 
his    fourth     year.  ,      .  .... 

and  showing  a  man   swinging  his  arms. 


(After  Sully.) 


When  children  and  savages  draw  the  hu- 
man form,  they  regularly  select  for  their 
first  sketches  the  front  view  (Figs.  3,  4, 
6,  11a,  116,  lie,  14,  15,  20,  21,  22,  25) ; 
animals,  on  the  other  hand,  are  nearly  al- 


Fig.  5.  (a)  a  cat  (1, 
whiskers;  2,  tail). 
(b)  a  bird.  Draw- 
ings by  an  English 
girl  between  three 
and  four  years  of 
age.  (After  Sally.) 


Fig.  6.  A  man. 
Drawing by an 
English  girl 
nearly  four 
years  of  age. 
(After  Sully.) 


Fig.  7.    Draw- 
ing by  a  five- 
year-old  Eng- 
lish boy. 
(After  Sully.) 


Fig.  8.  Draw- 
ing by  a  six- 
year-old  Ger- 
man boy. 


^ESTHETIC,    MORAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS    IDEAS      171 


Fig.  10.  Drawing  by  an 
English  boy.  (After 
Sully.) 


Fia.  9.    Drawings  by  two  seven-year-old 
German  boys. 


Fia.  11.    Drawings  by  three  six-year-old  German  boys. 


ways  drawn  in  profile  from  the  first  (Figs.  19,  26,  27,  28,  29, 
32,  33,  34).  The  picture  of  a  rider  is  made,  by  both  children 
and  savages,  with  both  legs  visible,  as  though  the  horse's 
body  were  non-existent  or  transparent  (Figs.  19a,  196,  26). 
The  fact  that  one  thing  hides  another  confuses  the  children 
as  well  as  the  savages  in  their  designs. 

If  we  study  the  drawings  of  children  up  to  the  age  of 
about  fourteen,  as  has  been  done  in  recent  years  by  Levin- 
stein, and  by  Kerschensteiner,  we  may  distinguish  five 
stages  in  the  development  of  the  child's  ability  to  draw : 


172 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 


Fig.  12.  Drawing  by 
a  six-year-old  Eng- 
lish boy.  (After 
Sully.) 


Fig.  13.  Drawing  by  an 
English  child.  (After 
Sully.) 


75Um 

Fig.  15.    Drawing  by 
a  five-year-old  girl 
from  Jamaica. 
(After  Sully.) 


Fig.  16.  Drawing  by  an 
American  girl  of  four 
years  and  three  months. 
(After  Lukens.) 


(1)  The  scribble  stage,  already  referred 
to,  and  well  illustrated  by  Figs.  2  and  16. 

(2)  The  stage  in  which  the  child  or  the 
savage  seeks  to  express,  by  means  of  line- 
constructions,  what  he  knows  of  the  ob- 
ject. He  cares  little  for  accuracy  in  the 
representation  of  form,  and  so  the  pic- 
ture is  a  symbol  rather  than  a  likeness. 


Fig.  14.  Drawing  by 
a  six-year-old  Ger- 
man boy. 


Fig.  17.  Drawing  by 
a  five  year-old  Eng- 
lish boy.  (After 
Sully.) 


Fig.  18.  Drawing  by 
a  nine-year-old  Ger- 
man boy 


.ESTHETIC,    MORAL,    AND    KKLIGIOUS    IDEAS      173 


Fig.  li>.  (<')  Drawing  by  a  seven- 
year-old  German  boy.  (b)  Drawing 
by  an  eight-year-old  German  girl. 

-ft       ° 


Fig.  22.  A  man. 
Drawing  by  a 
North  American 
Indian.  (After 
Sully.) 


©  O 


fl 

i  | 

(Ji  ,lu 

Fig.  20.  A  man.  Draw- 
ing by  an  adult  negro 
from  Uganda.  (After 
Sully.) 


Fig.  21.  Drawing  by 
an  adult  Indian  from 
Brazil.      (After  Sully.) 


Fig.  23.  A  man. 
Drawing  by  a 
Zulu  woman. 
{After  Sully.) 


Fig.  '24.  Drawing  by  a 
North  American  In- 
dian.    (After  Sully.) 


Fig.  25.  Drawing  by  a 
North  American  Indian. 
(After  Sully.) 


174       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

Sometimes  the  head  of  a  man  is  represented  by  an  oval  or  a 
circle  (Figs.  3,  4,  6,  7,  8,  11,  21,  24,  25),  sometimes  by  a  rec- 
tangle or  a  square  (Figs.  14,  15,  22).  The  body  is  some- 
times omitted  (Figs.  3, 4, 14, 15,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24),  sometimes 
represented  by  diverse  fanciful  forms  (Figs.  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 
12,  17,  18).  The  appendages  of  the  limbs  receive  no  con- 
sideration (Figs.  3,  4,  6,  7,  8,  9, 12, 15, 21, 22).  The  number 
of  fingers  and  toes  varies  greatly  (Figs.  6,  116,  lie,  15,  196, 
20,  21,  23,  31). 

(3)  Gradually,  however,  the  child  strives  to  depict  not 
merely  the  notional  content,  but  the  formal  relation  also. 
In  doing  this,  of  course,  the  schematic  or  symbolic  is  still 
mixed  with  the  representation  of  the  true  appearance  of  the 
object.  The  drawing  is  partly  symbolic,  and  partly  repre- 
sentative in  the  latter  sense.  Kerschensteiner  calls  this 
the  stage  of  the  beginning  of  the  appreciation  of  lines  and 
forms.  The  impossible  trunk-forms  are  no  longer  found; 
arm  and  leg  positions  are  rightly  observed;  the  rhythm  of 
movement,  and  the  position  of  the  clothing,  are  represented 
with  approximate  correctness;  the  individual  members  of 
the  body  stand  in  appropriate  relations;  details  are  often 
given  a  characteristic  reproduction.  For  illustration  of 
some  of  these  characteristics,  the  reader  might  observe  Fig. 
35,  where  the  limbs  are  in  the  correct  positions ;  or  Fig.  36, 
where  movement  is  represented  ;  or  Fig.  37,  where  the  pro- 
trusion of  the  arms  from  the  sleeves,  and  of  the  legs  from 
the  trousers,  are  represented  with  approximate  correctness. 

(4)  With  the  child's  further  progress  all  schematism  is 
eliminated  from  his  drawings,  and  the  representation  is  as 
nearly  as  possible  a  copy  of  the  object.  Kerschensteiner 
calls  this  the  silhouette  stage.  The  child  does  not  yet 
possess  the  power  to  express  space  in  the  third  dimension ; 
the  representation  is  limited  to  the  plane  surface.  Up  to 
the  tenth  year  of  life  this  sort  of  drawing  is  the  rule,  and 


./ESTHETIC,    MORAL,    AND    BBLIGI01  B    IDEAS      175 


Fig. 


Drawing    Fig.  27.    A  jaguar 


by  a  North  Amer- 
ican Indian.  (Af- 
ter Sully.) 


Brazilian  Indian. 
stein.) 


Drawing  by  a 
(After  Levin- 


Fig.  28.  A  stag. 
Drawing  by  a 
North  Ameri- 
can Indian. 
(After  Levin- 
stein.) 


Fig.  29.  A  dugong.  Draw- 
ing by  an  Australian  ne- 
gro.     (After  Levinstein.) 


id 


Fio.  30.  A  human  head. 
Drawing  by  a  prehistoric 
man.  Found  in  the  south 
of  France.  (After  Levin- 
stein.) 


Fig.  32.  A  cave  bear.  Drawing  by  a  pre- 
historic man  of  Massat  in  southern 
France.     (After  Levinstein.) 


Fig.  31.  A  man. 
Drawing  by  a  pre- 
historic  man. 
Fouud  in  the  south 
of  France.  (After 
Levinstein.) 


Fig.  33.    A.  mammoth.    Drawing  by 

of  Combarellc  in  southern  Frame. 


i  prehistoric  man 
(After  Hoemes.) 


176 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 


Fig.  34.  A  stag. 
Drawing  by 
a  prehistoric 
man.  (After 
Hoernes.) 


Fig.  35.  Drawing  by  an 
eleven-year-old  boy.  (Af~ 
ter  Kerschensteiner.)  pIG 


36.  Drawing  by  an  eight- 
year-old  German  girl.  (After 
Kerschensteiner.) 


Fig.  37.  Drawing  by  an  eleven- 
year-old  German  girl.  (After 
Kersche  nsteiner. ) 


Fig.  38.  Drawing  by  an  eleven- 
year-old  German  boy.  (After 
Kerschensteiner.) 


.ESTHETIC,   MORAL,    AND    BELIGIOU8   IDEAS      177 


Fiu.  :'>'.>.  Drawing  by  a  twelve- 
year-old  German  boy.  (After 
Kerschensteimr.) 


Fu;.  41.  Drawing  by  a  twelve- 
year-old  German  boy.  (After 
Kerschensteiner .) 


Pig,  hi.  Drawing  by  a 
thirteen-year-old  (;<>r- 
man  boy.  (After  Ker- 
schensteiner.) 


without  some  instruction  the  majority 
of  children  never  get  any  further.  Fig- 
ures 38  and  39  belong  to  this  stage. 

(5)  From  the  eleventh  year  children 
are  able  bo  express  objects  in  three  di- 
mensions of  space.  Individual  mem- 
bers of  the  body  are  made  round  by 
means  of  suitable  distribution  of  light 
and  shade,  or  by  appropriate  lines. 
The  pupil  now  draws  in  perspective.' 
The  humau  figure  is  shown  henceforth 


178  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

in  the  most  varied  positions  and  movements.  This  stage  of 
the  child's  graphic  expression  Kerschensteiner  calls  the 
stage  of  the  representation  of  form.  It  is  illustrated  in 
Figs.  40  and  41. 

To  trace  the  rise  and  development  of  the  feeling  of  the 
beautiful  to  anything  like  fulness,  would  carry  us,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  far  beyond  the  period  of  early  childhood.  The 
infant  is  attracted  by  gay  colors,  but  this  seems  to  be  an  affair 
of  the  sensory  chiefly.  And  even  as  such  it  apparently 
does  not  extend  to  form  or  arrangement.  A  well-arranged 
bouquet  possesses  no  more  attractions  for  a  child  of  one  or 
two  years  than  an  ill-arranged  one,  so  far  as  my  observa- 
tions go.  He  cares  no  more  for  a  beautiful  form  than  for 
one  that  we  adults  would  call  ugly  ;  as  witness  the  ardent 
affection  of  many  a  child  for  a  dilapidated  and  filthy  rag- 
doll  in  preference  to  any  new  and  beautiful  one.  A  boy  of 
two  and  a  half  years,  whom  I  have  had  much  opportunity 
of  observing,  plays  constantly  with  an  old  toy  wagon,  so 
decrepit  as  to  require  almost  daily  repairs,  while  he  ignores 
completely  the  gayly  painted  and  beautiful  new  one  which 
his  father  has  bought  for  him.  This,  of  course,  is  not  held 
to  be  an  evidence  of  a  perverted  aesthetic  taste,  but  rather 
merely  that  aesthetic  considerations  are  as  yet  practically 
inoperative  in  the  choice  of  playthings. 

It  seems  also  extremely  doubtful  whether  a  child  under 
ten  years  of  age  is  able  to  enter  fully  into  those  feelings 
which  actuate  most  adults  on  beholding  a  beautiful  land- 
scape, a  splendid  painting,  or  a  magnificent  product  of 
architectural  skill.  He  is  not  able  as  yet  to  understand  the 
feelings  experienced  by  us  in  the  presence  of  these  things, 
partly,  at  least,  because  he  is  not  yet  strong  enough,  men- 
tally, to  grasp  them  as  total  effects,  but  can  notice  only  some 
prominent  and  striking  detail ;  partly,  also,  because  there  is 
but  little  movement  or  life  in  the  landscape,  and  none  at  all 


AESTHETIC,    MOKAL,    AND    BBLIGIOU8    [DBAS       179 

in  the  painting  or  the  building.  All  the  actions  of  Little 
children  go  to  show  that  their  preferences  are  determined 
far  more  by  the  amount  of  vitality  and  movement  in  the 
object  than  by  any  aesthetic  qualities  it  may  possess. 

II.  The  Moral  Nature  of  the  Child 

Passing  now  to  a  brief  notice  of  the  moral  nature  of  child- 
hood, I  must  first  of  all  express  my  strong  conviction,  based 
upon  observation  as  well  as  upon  abstract  reasoning,  that 
moral  ideas  do  not  require  to  be  created  or  implanted  in  the 
minds  of  children  by  their  elders.  Nothing  is  more  certain 
than  that  the  child  is  born  potentially  a  moral  being,  pos- 
sessing a  moral  nature  which  requires  only  to  be  evoked  and 
developed  by  environmental  conditions.  If  this  be  not  true, 
then  neither  is  it  true  that  he  is  born  potentially  an  active 
being,  possessing  a  volitional  nature  which  requires  only 
to  be  evoked  and  developed  by  suitable  conditions.  If  no 
amount  of  training  can  ever  make  a  moral  being  of  a  dog, 
it  is  because  he  possesses  no  moral  nature  to  begin  with. 
If  a  child  is  capable  of  attaining  to  advanced  moral  ideas 
and  distinctions,  it  is  because  he  possesses  at  the  outset  a 
moral  nature  upon  which  instruction  and  discipline  can  take 
hold.  An  empirical  account  of  the  derivation  of  the  moral 
nature  out  of  conditions  in  which  no  germs  of  it  are  to  be 
found,  fails  utterly  when  tested  either  by  observed  facts  or 
by  logical  criticism. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  equally  wide  of  the 
mark  to  say  that  children  are  born  into  the  world  fully 
equipped  moral  beings.  The  same  transformation,  in  fact, 
takes  place  here  as  elsewhere.  The  new-born  is  everything 
potentially,  nothing  actually.  He  is  full  to  overflowing 
with  moral  capabilities,  which  awake  to  active  functioning 
as   soon  as   the  proper  conditions  are  extant;  just  as  his 


180  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

senses  awake  to  active  functioning  as  soon  as  the  proper 
material  conditions  become  available.  And  these  capabili- 
ties and  tendencies,  moreover,  which  I  have  here  called 
moral,  do  not  all  point  in  one  direction.  Some  of  them,  as 
Professor  Sully  remarks,  are  pro-moral,  and  others  are 
contra-moral.  The  young  child  betrays  astonishing  capaci- 
ties for  virtue,  and,  at  the  same  time,  equally  surprising 
capabilities  for  vice.  He  is  capable  of  the  loftiest  achieve- 
ments in  virtue,  and,  at  the  same  time  (and  very  likely  for 
the  same  reason),  he  is  capable  of  sinking  to  the  lowest 
depths  of  depravity.  But  at  the  outset  he  is  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other,  simply  because  he  lacks,  as  yet, 
that  comprehension  of  moral  law,  and  of  the  relation  of 
actions  thereto,  which  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  both  virtue 
and  vice. 

It  follows,  too,  from  all  this,  that  the  actions  of  a  young 
child  must  be  viewed  from  a  somewhat  different  standpoint, 
and  judged  by  somewhat  different  criteria,  from  those 
applied  to  the  actions  of  adults,  if  we  would  avoid  a  mis- 
taken moral  diagnosis.  A  child's  act,  on  its  external  side, 
may  resemble  very  closely  that  of  an  adult  in  the  same  cir- 
cumstances ;  but,  on  the  inner  side,  it  may  be  devoid  of  that 
conscious  intention  to  compass  a  certain  end,  which  is 
essential  to  its  strictly  ethical  character.  A  man  may 
behave  in  a  cruel  manner  to  his  horse,  in  the  full  knowl- 
edge of  the  pain  he  is  inflicting,  and  in  full  consciousness 
of  the  disharmony  between  his  conduct  and  the  moral  ideal ; 
a  child  pulls  the  cat's  tail,  very  likely  with  no  idea  of  the 
painful  consequences  of  his  act,  merely  from  an  overflow  of 
energy,  or  as  an  expression  of  his  instinct  of  power.  Obvi- 
ously, the  two  actions  differ  very  widely  in  moral  character. 
So,  as  many  careful  observers  can  testify,  the  falsehoods  of 
children  are  not  always  lies,  and  their  acts  of  rebellion 
against  authority  do  not,  in  every   case,   possess  all  the 


AESTHETIC,    MOliAL.     »'  D    KELMMOL'S    [DBAS      181 

marks  of  malicious  and  premeditated  disobedience.  Little 
children  are  swayed,  to  a  very  great  extent,  by  the  vivid- 
ness of  their  imagination  and  by  the  strength  of  their 
impulses.  Conscious,  deliberate,  moral  conduct  requires 
time  and  experience  for  its  full  development. 

Nevertheless,  when  once  the  moral  nature  has  awakened 
into  activity,  there  is  no  class  of  ideas  which  children  accept 
more  readily  than  those  of  morality.  To  find  that  certain 
things  are  "  right "  and  others  "  wrong,"  causes  them  not 
more  surprise  than  to  find  that  certain  articles  of  food 
are  beneficial  and  others  injurious.  The  fact  that  a  child 
requires  instruction  and  a  certain  accumulation  of  experi- 
ence in  order  that  he  shall  properly  classify  concrete  actions 
under  ethical  rubrics,  is  no  more  an  argument  in  favor  of 
the  experiential  origin  of  his  moral  ideas  than  is  his  fail- 
ure to  correctly  locate  distant  objects  an  argument  in  favor 
of  the  experiential  derivation  of  the  idea  of  space.  Indeed, 
it  seems  to  me  that  a  very  instructive  parallel  may  be  drawn 
just  here.  As,  in  the  case  of  perception,  the  discernment  of 
the  actual  space-qualities  of  real  objects  becomes  more  and 
more  accurate  through  the  accumulation  of  experience, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  no  object  could  ever  have  been 
perceived  at  all  but  for  the  space-form  contributed  by  the 
subject;  so  it  is  in  moral  distinctions.  Experience  and 
instruction  quicken  our  discernment  of  the  moral  qualities 
of  concrete  acts ;  but  at  the  same  time,  the  very  first  act  of 
moral  discernment,  as  well  as  all  subsequent  ones,  presup- 
pose and  require  that  ethical-form,  if  I  may  so  name  it, 
which  is  the  contribution  of  the  subject  himself. 

During  recent  years  numerous  valuable  investigations  have 
been  carried  out  concerning  children's  falsehoods,  some  re- 
sults of  which  may  be  briefly  indicated,  as  they  are  of  great 
importance  for  teachers.  In  America  Stanley  Hall  has 
studied  the  lies  of  children,  particularly  during  the  period 


182  THE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD 

of  compulsory  school  attendance;  Sully  in  England,  and 
Compayre  in  France,  have  made  studies  of  the  falsehoods  of 
little  children;  in  Germany  Stern  has  thrown  light  upon 
this  subject  in  a  new,  and  for  pedagogy,  highly  significant 
way.  On  the  basis  of  all  these  investigations  we  can  divide 
the  falsehoods  of  children  into  three  groups:  (1)  False- 
hoods due  to  unconscious  memory  illusions ;  (2)  Spontaneous 
or  natural  lies ;  (3)  Pathological  or  morbid  lies. 

Stern  made  studies  of  school  boys  and  girls  from  seven  to 
eighteen  years  of  age.  He  investigated  not  merely  the  ut- 
terances that  took  the  form  of  connected  statements,  but 
included  also  a  systematic  examination,  calculated  to  deter- 
mine the  effect  produced  by  questions  both  of  the  suggestive 
and  of  the  non-suggestive  type.  He  found  that  in  the  case  of  a 
statement,  6  per  cent  of  the  assertions  were  false,  whereas  in 
the  case  of  an  interrogation,  the  number  of  false  assertions  rose 
to  thirty-three.  From  which  he  has  shown  that  even  among 
mentally  normal  school  boys  and  girls  statements  are  made, 
quite  unconsciously,  which  diverge  widely  from  the  facts. 
Stimulated  by  Stern,  Kosog  also  carried  on  investigations  on 
school  children.  One  day,  before  the  beginning  of  the  lessons, 
he  placed  three  objects,  a  penholder,  a  pocket-knife,  and  a 
piece  of  chalk,  so  near  to  the  edge  of  the  teacher's  desk  that 
they  could  be  plainly  seen  by  all  the  pupils.  During  recess 
Kosog  removed  the  objects,  and  then,  after  the  pupils  had 
reassembled,  asked  them  what  they  had  seen  on  the  desk 
in  the  first  hour.  Although  during  that  first  hour  their 
eyes  had  been  constantly  directed  towards  the  teacher's 
desk,  the  objects  had  entirely  escaped  their  attention ;  only 
two  of  them  had  noticed  the  pocket-knife.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  Kosog  tested  the  effects  of  suggestion.  He  left  the 
desk  entirely  bare  during  the  first  hour,  and  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  hour  put  the  same  questions  as  on  the 
preceding  day.     Now  26  per  cent  of  the  pupils  claimed  that 


^ESTHETIC,    MORAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS    IDEAS      183 

they  had  seen  the  pocket-knife,  57  per  cent  the  chalk,  and 
63  per  cent  the  penholder. 

Kemsies  carried  out  the  following  investigation:  Between 
two  eight-year-old  boys  there  had  been  a  fight  in  the  school 
yard,  in  which  the  one  had  struck  the  other  on  the  nose  and 
made  it  bleed.  Kemsies  at  once  questioned  both  combatants 
and  two  witnesses ;  then  after  three  and  a  half  months  he 
questioned  them  a  second  time ;  then  four  months  later,  a 
third  time.  At  the  second  examination  the  combatant  who 
had  gotten  the  worst  of  it  made  much  more  detailed  state- 
ments than  at  the  first ;  the  witnesses  were  not  certain  in  their 
recollection ;  one  of  them  confused  the  persons ;  whereas  at 
the  third  questioning  he  represented  the  whole  affair  exactly 
as  he  had  at  the  first. 

Agahd  reports  the  following :  A  pupil  had  been  punished 
with  three  strokes  of  a  rod.  This  took  place  in  front  of  the 
teacher's  desk,  and  was  witnessed  by  a  class  of  fifty-two 
children.  After  five  days  Agahd  put  the  following  ques- 
tions: "Who  saw  me  punish  F?"  Forty  pupils  indicated 
that  they  had.  "When  did  I  punish  him?"  Thirty-one 
gave  the  correct  day.  "  In  what  lesson  period  ?  "  Twenty- 
six  pupils  answered  correctly.  "  How  many  blows  did  he 
get  ?  "  Twenty-four  correct  answers  were  given.  "  Did  F 
have  to  stoop  before  he  was  punished  ?  "  Twelve  children 
answered  erroneously,  and  four  of  these  were  seated  on  the 
two  front  benches.  Regarding  the  reason  of  the  punishment, 
there  were  eight  different  answers  from  thirty-fWe  children. 
Investigations  like  these  show  that  correct  answers  are  a 
psychological  achievement  that  children  are  more  or  less 
incapable  of.  This  fact  is  of  great  practical  significance. 
It  places  in  a  new  light  the  practice  of  examining  children 
as  witnesses  in  courts  of  justice.  A  child  may  be  unobjec- 
tionable, morally  as  well  as  intellectually,  and  yet  his  testi- 
mony may  be  entirely  worthless,  because  he  is  in  a  high 


184  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

degree  susceptible  to  suggestion.  On  this  account  Stern, 
Baginski,  and  others,  rightly  claim  that  the  taking  of  the 
evidence  of  children  in  courts  of  justice  should  be  abol- 
ished ;  and  we  can  concur  in  the  opinion  that  no  one  under 
the  age  of  fifteen  should  be  placed  in  the  witness-box.  This 
is  already  the  case  in  Sweden.  The  statements  of  children 
must  be  received  by  the  teacher  also,  in  the  numerous  inci- 
dents of  school  life,  with  the  greatest  caution. 

There  is  a  gradual  transition  from  falsehood  as  an  uncon- 
scious memory  illusion  to  the  spontaneous  or  natural  lie, 
under  which  we  may  include  some  cases  of  conscious  and 
deliberate  perversion  of  the  truth.  This  kind  of  falsehood 
has  various  causes,  prominent  among  which  is  the  instinct 
of  self-preservation.  When  questioned  about  some  wrong- 
doing of  which  he  has  been  guilty,  the  child  is  likely  to 
deny  his  guilt,  and  seek  to  throw  suspicion  upon  some  one 
else.  This  kind  of  falsehood  appears  especially  during 
school  life.  Pupils  are  often  tempted  to  deceive  the  teacher 
with  regard  to  tasks  and  various  other  matters;  they  pre- 
tend to  have  headache,  nosebleed,  etc.,  in  order  to  escape 
from  school  duties.  Again,  many  falsehoods  spring  from 
the  desire  to  please,  or  from  the  fear  of  giving  offence.  This 
is  particularly  noticeable  in  the  case  of  girls,  and  may  de- 
velop into  the  great  moral  evil  of  insincerity  or  deceit.  If 
one  asks  a  child  whether  he  likes  or  admires  a  certain  thing, 
he  will  not  always  tell  the  truth,  for  fear  of  hurting  the 
feelings  of  the  questioner.  Conventional  politeness  is  a 
fruitful  source  of  falsehood.  Children  in  many  cases  are 
actually  trained  to  deceive.  "Say  I  am  not  at  home,"  or 
"  Say  nothing  to  your  father  about  this, "  are  common  in- 
structions. Custom  and  imitation  also  foster  falsehood. 
Moreover,  the  impulse  to  stand  by  an  untruth  once  uttered 
is  very  human,  and  in  the  child  is  strengthened  by  the  fear 
of  discovery.    Again,  clever  boys  and  girls  often  amuse  them- 


AESTHETIC,    MOIIAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS    IDEAS      185 

selves  by  deceiving  others  less  clever  than  themselves.  In 
this  way  there  arise,  in  the  nursery  and  the  school  ground, 
myths  and  legends  which  are  taken  seriously  by  the  unsophis- 
ticated. The  knowledge  that  others  have  succeeded  in  these 
deceptions  easily  awakens  in  children  the  impulse  to  do  like- 
Avise.  Phantasy  and  suggestion  are  further  chief  causes  of 
mendacity.  Every  one  who  has  observed  the  play  of  the 
child,  and  his  dramatic  dialogue,  knows  how  easily  and  com- 
pletely he  can  imagine  the  non-existent  and  forget  the  present 
reality.  When  the  child  in  his  play  says,  "I  am  a  coachman," 
"  The  doll  cries,"  etc.,  the  psychologist  will  not  be  disquieted, 
knowing  that  he  has  to  do  here  only  with  a  play  of  the  phan- 
tasy. Yet  these  phenomena  may  develop  into  real  lies. 
An  unbridled  phantasy  and  a  strong  love  of  success  will 
easily  cause  older  children  to  assert  what  to  them  is  at  most 
only  vaguely  known.  As  was  pointed  out  above,  a  stronger 
mind  can,  through  suggestive  questions,  easily  overcome  the 
child's  own  conviction,  and  bring  him  to  the  confession  of 
that  which  sharply  contradicts  the  actual  facts.  Such  pas- 
sive utterances  become  lies  if  the  child  seeks  to  gain  advan- 
tage from  consciously  yielding  to  the  suggestion. 

From  this  type  of  falsehood  there  is  a  gradual  transition 
to  the  pathological  or  morbid  lie.  In  the  case  of  the  latter 
there  is  not  only  a  consciousness  of  the  incorrectness  of  the 
assertion  made,  but  also  an  abnormal  condition  of  the  brain 
or  of  its  functions,  showing  itself  in  a  high  susceptibility  to 
suggestion,  and  in  hyperphantasy.  We  have  already  pointed 
out  that  a  morbidly  heightened  phantasy  is  a  cause  of  the 
pathological  lie.  Some  examples  will  illustrate  the  charac- 
teristics of  this  sort  of  falsehood.  Henneberg  observed  the 
following  case :  A  sixteen-year-old  pupil  in  a  girls'  school 
appeared  one  day  in  the  school  with  a  bandage  about  her 
head.  She  explained  that  she  was  suffering  from  a  disease 
of  the  ear,  on  account  of  which  she  had  been  operated  on 


186        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 

by  a  surgeon.  She  described  every  detail  of  the  operation. 
Frequently  she  wept  on  account  of  the  pain  in  her  ear. 
After  some  weeks  the  teacher  became  suspicious,  and  went 
with  the  pupil  to  the  doctor  she  had  named.  In  the  hos- 
pital the  girl  knew  her  way  about,  and  recognized  the  doc- 
tors and  the  staff.  Examination  showed  that  her  ear  was 
quite  sound,  and  that  she  had  not  been  operated  on ;  yet 
she  persisted  in  her  statements,  though  her  relatives  knew 
nothing  of  the  alleged  ear  disease.  They  had  never  seen 
her  with  the  bandage  about  her  head.  Only  by  degrees 
did  the  girl  abandon  the  idea  of  the  ear  disease.  It  trans- 
pired that  she  had  frequently  visited  a  lady  who  was  suffer- 
ing from  ear  trouble  and  who  had  been  operated  on  in  the 
hospital  in  question.  This  lady  had  given  the  girl  very 
minute  descriptions  of  her  sojourn  in  the  hospital,  and  had 
shown  her  a  photograph  of  the  operating  surgeon. 

Oppermann  reports  the  next  case.  A  mother  appeared  at 
police  headquarters  with  a  well-developed  daughter,  eleven 
years  old,  and  made  the  statement  that  her  child  had  suffered 
personal  violence  at  the  hands  of  a  man  whom  she  named. 
Some  other  children  were  brought  along  as  witnesses.  The 
statements  of  the  girl  were  so  exact  and  definite  that  one 
could  not  help  believing  them  at  once.  The  laborer  in 
question,  a  man  of  irreproachable  character,  was  arrested 
the  same  evening.  He  declared  most  emphatically  that  he 
was  not  acquainted  with  the  child,  and  had  no  knowledge 
whatever  of  the  affair.  The  girl  at  first  adhered  to  her 
statements,  whereas  the  other  children  soon  admitted  that 
they  had  not  seen  the  assault,  and  knew  of  it  only  through 
her  statements.  However,  after  a  medical  examination  had 
proven  the  whole  story  of  the  crime  to  be  without  founda- 
tion, the  girl  finally  admitted  that  it  was  entirely  her  own 
invention.  Questioned  as  to  her  motive,  she  said  that  she 
had  heard  of  such  things,  and  had  desired  for  once  to  tell 
something  of  this  kind  also. 


AESTHETIC,    MORAL,    AND    KELKJIOUS    IDKAS      187 

Scholz  observed  the  following  case:  A  ten-year-old 
schoolgirl  bad  in  the  open  street  taken  some  money  away 
from  a  little  child  not  yet  of  school  age,  and  had  run  off 
with  it.  On  being  questioned,  she  at  first  denied  having 
taken  the  money  ;  but  later,  on  being  urged  to  tell  the  truth, 
and  being  promised  immunity  from  punishment,  she  ad- 
mitted having  stolen  thirty  pfennige,  but  said  that  she  had 
thrown  it  into  the  grass.  Scholz  went  with  her  to  find  the 
money,  and  on  the  way  she  began  to  cry,  and  said  that  her 
mother  never  had  any  money,  and  she  needed  so  many  shoes, 
and  that  she  had  paid  the  shoemaker  for  the  shoes.  In- 
quiry, however,  showed  that  not  a  word  of  this  was  true. 
On  a  further  cross-questioning  the  girl  finally  confessed 
that  she  had  bought  herself  rolls  and  chocolate  with  the 
money. 

The  pathological  lie  appears  not  only  as  an  independent 
phenomenon,  but  also  as  an  accompaniment  of  hysteria, 
imbecility,  and  mania. 

Several  studies  have  been  made,  by  Professor  Earl 
Barnes  and  others,1  on  the  subject  of  punishment,  and  it 
is  found  that  all  children  admit  that  wrong  acts  require 
punishment,  though  the  reasons  given  are  various,  and 
among  the  younger  children  there  is,  as  one  would  expect, 
a  certain  readiness  to  accept  the  dicta  of  authority  on  the 
question.  This  feature,  however,  is  far  less  prominent  than 
one  might  suppose,  and  decreases  rapidly  with  the  growth 
of  the  child.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  number  of 
children  who  take  an  exclusively  utilitarian  view  of  the 
purpose  of  punishment  is  surprisingly  small.  In  one  in- 
vestigation, while  38  per  cent  of  the  children  said  the  pun- 
ishment was  just  "because  children  ought  to  obey,"  only 
6  per  cent  said  "because  it  would  make  the  child  more  care- 
ful in  future."     This   suggests   a  very  important  thought, 

1  See  Pedagogical  Seminary. 


188  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

viz. ,  that  all  punishment  ought  to  be  based  directly  on  the 
moral  law.  In  other  words,  it  ought  always  to  be  under- 
stood, when  a  child  is  punished,  that  he  is  suffering  because 
of  his  violation  of  right,  suffering  because  he  has  done 
wrong,  because  he  has  transgressed  the  commands  of  those 
who,  to  him,  are  the  living  representatives  of  moral  order. 
To  base  all  punishment  on  mere  "  consequences  "  in  the  way 
of  pain  and  pleasure,  as  Spencer  and  Rousseau  have  done, 
is  to  lose  sight  entirely  of  the  real  purpose  of  moral  disci- 
pline, and  hopelessly  to  obscure  the  real  issue  at  stake. 
Natural  law  is  one  thing,  moral  law  is  another.  To  confine 
child-punishment  to  the  "  discipline  of  consequences  "  is  to 
ignore  the  existence  of  moral  law  altogether.  Such  a  method 
receives  its  most  telling  rebuke  from  the  children  themselves, 
when  they  tell  us  that  they  consider  punishment  not  merely 
as  corrective  and  preventive,  but  also  as  retributive  — 
the  vengeance  of  a  moral  environment  against  a  wilful 
violation  of  its  sanctity.  The  attempted  reduction  of  moral 
law  to  natural  law  is  simply  an  attempt  to  get  rid  of  moral 
law  altogether.  It  entirely  ignores  the  element  of  per- 
sonality, and  dilutes  responsibility  by  placing  accidents 
that  are  followed  by  physical  pain  on  exactly  the  same 
level  as  moral  dereliction.  According  to  this  "discipline 
of  consequences,"  it  should  be  just  as  wrong  to  stumble 
and  hurt  oneself  as  to  disobey  one's  parents  and  be  pun- 
ished. But  any  child  knows  better  than  this  without 
special  instruction.  The  doctrine,  moreover,  utterly  con- 
fuses the  child's  moral  perspective  by  teaching  him  (by 
implication)  that  no  action  of  his  is  wrong  provided  he 
can  manage  to  escape  its  painful  consequences.  But  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  discuss  further  at  present  a  doctrine 
already  so  widely  discredited  by  competent  psychologists 
and  educators.  It  is,  however,  very  gratifying  to  be  able 
to  express  my  thorough  conviction  that  the  normal  child, 


^ESTHETIC,    MORAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS    IDEAS      189 

as  well  as  the  average,  unsophisticated  man,  is  at  one  with 
Kant,  in  his  thoroughgoing  separation  of  moral  law  and 
moral  obligation  from  every  vestige  of  dependence  on 
"  empirical  instigations." 

III.   The   Religious   Nature  of  the  Child 

These  considerations  lead  naturally  to  our  final  topic,  the 
religious  nature  of  the  child.  The  connecting  link  between 
morality  and  religion,  so  far,  at  least,  as  childhood  is  con- 
cerned, is  to  be  found  in  several  facts,  which  may  serve  as 
the  occasion  for  the  few  remarks  we  have  to  make: 

(1)  Right  and  good  are  naturally  connected,  in  the  child's 
mind,  with  the  personality  of  some  adult  for  whom  he  feels 
affection,  reverence,  and  trust.  As  moral  ideas  develop, 
they  are  naturally  closely  associated  with  those  persons 
(normally  the  parents)  whose  wishes,  commands,  prohi- 
bitions, are  coincident  with,  and  very  apt  to  become 
synonymous  in  the  child's  mind  with  the  requirements  of 
a  moral  order.  Hence,  the  element  of  responsibility  to 
some  superior  person  becomes  clearly  developed;  and  this 
comes  to  pass  the  more  easily  in  view  of  the  fact  that  com- 
prehension of  the  wish  of  a  real  person  is  much  less  diffi- 
cult than  comprehension  of  abstract  moral  distinctions. 

(2)  In  this  way,  as  is  perfectly  natural,  the  child  comes 
to  look  upon  some  person  (in  all  probability  his  mother)  as 
the  living  embodiment  of  moral  ivorth  as  well  as  of  moral 
order.  He  feels  his  responsibility  to  her ;  he  knows  she  is 
pleased  when  he  does  right,  and  displeased  when  he  does 
wrong.  His  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  become  inseparably 
associated  with  her  personality.  In  a  very  real  sense  she 
stands  to  him  in  the  place  of  God.  And  perhaps  it  may  not 
be  irreverent  to  suggest  (though  the  tremendous  respon- 
sibility of  parenthood  is  thereby  clearly  indicated)  that  a 


190  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD 

child's  parents  should,  as  they  in  most  cases  certainly  do, 
constitute  his  divinity  pro  tern. :  all  the  divinity  that  he, 
at  least  up  to  a  certain  age,  is  able  to  understand ;  and  that 
his  worship  of  them  is  probably  the  best  preparation  he  can 
have  for  a  higher  worship  later  on.  Reverence  and  love 
for  parents  are  the  best  prelude  to  reverence  and  love  for 
Jehovah.  It  is  a  tolerably  safe  assertion  that  a  child  who, 
for  any  reason,  has  never  worshipped  his  mother,  will  be  by 
so  much  the  less  likely  ever  to  worship  any  other  divinity. 
The  child  who  has  never  known  what  it  meant  to  be  trained 
in  voluntary  submission  of  his  will  to  the  will  of  wise 
parents,  will  be  by  so  much  the  less  likely  ever  to  yield  to 
God  that  ardent  submission  and  service  which  is  the  mark 
of  the  truly  religious  life. 

(3)  Should  I  be  charged  with  anthropomorphism  on 
account  of  these  remarks,  I  should  make  a  twofold  answer : 
In  the  first  place,  in  the  case  of  a  young  child,  you  must 
choose  between  anthropomorphism  and  nothing  at  all.  He 
is  not  yet  able  to  comprehend  a  purely  spiritual  personality. 
He  lives  in  the  world  of  sense,  and  is,  for  the  present,  com- 
pletely confined  to  the  material.  And  if  God,  to  him,  is 
not  like  father  or  mother  (the  best  people  the  child  knows), 
to  whom  shall  he  be  compared  ?  And  I  should  like  to  ask 
my  supposed  critic,  even  though  he  be  a  professor  of  the- 
ology or  metaphysic,  whether  he  is  quite  certain  that  his 
own  conception  of  the  Divine  Being,  even  at  threescore 
years  and  ten,  is  absolutely  free  from  the  last  vestige  of 
anthropomorphism. 

And,  in  the  second  place,  is  it  fair  to  assume,  at  the 
outset,  that  anthropomorphism  is  entirely  evil  and  false  ? 
Does  a  sound  theology  or  philosophy  acknowledge  no  com- 
munity of  attributes  between  God  and  man  ?  Is  not  that 
rather  the  truest  view,  which  looks  upon  man  as  made  in 
the  divine  likeness ;  and  teaches  that  one  of  the  most  effec- 


iESTHETIC,    MORAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS   IDEAS      191 

tive  channels  to  knowledge  of  God  is  by  way  of  a  true 
insight  into  the  real  nature  of  man? 

(4)  And  now,  if  this  be  the  road  to  religious  training, 
viz.,  through  human  personality  to  the  Divine,  does  it  not 
follow,  as  Dr.  Hall  has  said,1  that  religious,  as  well  as 
moral,  training  should  begin  in  the  cradle?  Reverential 
submission  to  parental  authority,  implicit  trust  in  parental 
wisdom,  and  tender  affection  in  response  to  parental  love, 
—  these  are  the  natural  preludes  to  religion  in  the  higher 
sense,  and  these  can  be  cultivated  almost  from  the  very 
dawn  of  conscious  life. 

(5)  "  But,"  it  may  be  objected,  "you  have  not  shown  that 
religious  training  is  any  necessary  part  of  child  culture. 
May  it  not  be  worth  while  to  inquire  whether  there  is  really 
any  place  for  religion  in  human  culture  ;  whether  we  ought 
not  to  eliminate  this  relic  of  superstition  and  substitute  for 
it  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  nature  ?  " 

To  this  I  answer  by  simply  pointing  to  the  religious  na- 
ture as  a  bona  fide  constituent  of  human  thought  and  feel- 
ing. It  is  no  more  a  spurious  interpolation  than  is  the 
moral  life.  A  sound  and  thoroughgoing  psychological 
analysis  finds  it  as  a  datum  of  human  consciousness,  ca- 
pable, of  course,  like  every  other  faculty,  of  development 
through  experience,  as  well  as  of  distortion  through  false 
teaching;  but  withal  a  genuine  thing,  not  owing  its  origin 
to  the  superstitions  of  the  nursery.  And  if  education  in 
the  true  sense  means  the  development  of  the  whole  person- 
ality, then  the  religious  nature  demands  its  share  in  the 
culture  of  the  individual.  And  if  this  demand  be  refused, 
the  individual  is  by  so  much  imperfectly  developed.2 

1  Pedagogical  Seminary,  I.,  2. 

2  It  will  be  observed  that  I  have  employed  no  other  but  the  psycho- 
logical argument ;  not  because  of  any  lack  of  confidence  in  other  lines 
of  proof,  but  merely  because  none  of  the  others  lies  within  the  scope 
of  this  treatise. 


192  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

(6)  What,  then,  finally,  shall  be  the  relation  of  nature- 
study  to  religious  training  ?  Little  children  are  constantly 
speculating  as  to  the  sources  of  things  in  the  material 
world.  No  question  is  more  frequently  on  their  lips  than, 
"  Who  made  this  ?  "  "  Where  did  this  come  from  ?  "  Is  there 
no  connection  between  this  and  the  religious  consciousness? 
Surely!  The  soundest  metaphysical  view  with  which  I  am 
acquainted  finds  the  whole  visible  material  universe  to  be 
but  the  infinitely  varied  and  beautiful  expression  of  one 
great,  eternal  being.  Through  nature,  then,  to  nature's 
God,  would  seem  to  be  one  of  the  ways  and  means  of 
religious  growth,  and  natural  religion  becomes  the  basis  and 
indispensable  prelude  to  revealed  religion.  A  proper  appre- 
ciation of  nature,  as  the  product  of  the  Divine  power  and 
wisdom,  is  by  no  means  an  unworthy  stepping-stone  to  a 
proper  appreciation  of  redemption  as  an  expression  of  the 
Divine  Love. 


CHAPTER  VII 
Psychopathic  Conditions  in  Child  Life 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  the  normal  phenomena  of  the 
child's  mental  life  were  treated ;  of  his  abnormal  states  only 
the  simpler  forms  were  referred  to,  as  occasion  required.  It 
remains  to  treat  in  this  chapter  of  complex  mental  disorders, 
or  psychopathies.  These  are  diseased  conditions,  to  which 
the  child  is  either  more  or  less  predisposed  from  birth,  or 
comes  to  be  so  in  the  course  of  years.  They  lay  hold  of 
and  alter  the  entire  personality  ;  they  are  therefore  to  be 
designated  diseases.  They  stand  in  a  certain  contrast  to  the 
simple  or  elementary  mental  disorders,  inasmuch  as  the 
latter  make  their  appearance  singly,  and  do  not  take  posses- 
sion of  the  whole  personality  of  the  child.  These  simple 
mental  disorders  may  occur  in  healthy  as  well  as  in  unhealthy 
children.  A  child  may  suffer  from  a  hallucination,  a  weak- 
ness of  memory,  an  idea-rout,  a  thought  impediment,  a  fixed 
idea,  an  illusion,  or  a  hyper  phantasy,  etc.,  without  being 
mentally  diseased,  properly  speaking,  since  these  elementary 
disorders  of  the  psychic  life  occur  only  singly  or  transitorily. 

The  necessity  of  psychopathological  knowledge  for  the 
teacher  has  been  convincingly  presented  by  such  eminent 
psychiatrists  as  Koch,  Krapelin,  Pelman,  Scholz,  Sommer, 
and  Ziehen ;  also  by  such  well-known  educationists  as 
Heller,  Spitzner,  Striimpel,  Truper,  and  Ufer.  As  Trttper 
well  says :  "  Teachers  and  educators  who  are  intrusted 
with  psychopathic  abnormalities  see  much  that  they  have 
hitherto   not   seen,   and   understand  much  that  they  have 

193 


194  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

hitherto  not  understood.  They  are  not  at  a  loss  when  an 
ordinarily  well-behaved  child  suddenly  becomes  excited 
and  can  scarcely  grasp  an  idea.  They  are  filled  with  solici- 
tous questionings  immediately,  when  they  see  cases  of 
morbid  over-couscientiousness  and  zeal.  They  are  cautious 
in  their  judgment  of  special  endowments  and  over-pre- 
cocity, for  they  know  that  many  a  brilliant  flame  is  from  a 
straw  fire,  which,  after  a  short  blaze,  sinks  down  of  itself, 
and  is  the  more  quickly  extinguished  the  more  one  blows 
upon  it.  They  deal  with  many  an  idleness,  many  a  dis- 
obedience, many  a  lassitude,  differently  from  what  they  did 
before.  They  know  that  often  a  child  who  at  heart  is  good 
and  tractable  becomes  stubborn  and  wilful  only  when  his 
peculiarities  and  naughtiness  are  rigidly  resisted  and  un- 
reasonably opposed.  They  will  see  to  it  that  the  real  inner 
nature  of  such  a  child  is  drawn  out  by  sympathetic  treatment 
and  that  he  is  not  imposed  upon  by  injudicious  associates, 
nor  heartlessly  ostracized  for  his  conduct.  They  will  not 
inflict  punishment  upon  a  psychopathic  child  who  can  neither 
sit  still,  nor  hold  his  tongue,  nor  comprehend  instruction. 
They  will  not  punish  this  nervous  unrest  with  blows,  but 
will  seek  to  cure  it  by  means  of  isolation  and  quiet.  They 
will  judge  differently  many  lies  and  boasting  stories,  know- 
ing that  these  may  result  from  mental  disorder,  and  that  the 
child  himself  may  believe  all  that  he  says.  Regarding  the 
question  of  overwork  also,  a  distinction  will  be  made  between 
healthy  pupils  and  those  whose  nerves  cannot  endure  the 
strain  of  things.  Particular  attention  will  be  given  to 
pupils  who  are  mentally  weak.  The  teacher  will  seek,  not 
only  in  the  matter  of  instruction,  but  in  physical  exercise  as 
well,  to  avoid  excessive  demands.  Above  all  things  he  will 
urge  the  parents  to  keep  their  children  from  mimicking  the 
unnatural  actions  of  adults,  by  which  so  frequently  the 
nervous  system  in  young  children  is  weakened,  and  there  is 


PSYCHOPATHIC   CONDITIONS    in    CHILD    LIFE      195 

engendered  ;i  vanity  and  an  inordinate  desire  for  enjoyment 
which  poisons  both  mind  and  soul." 

Mental  disturbances,  or  psychopathies,  are  usually  divided 
into  psychic  derangements  (in  which  the  principal  symptoms 
are  mental)  and  neural  diseases  (in  which  physical  and 
mental  indications  run  parallel.  Of  the  former,  it  is  impor- 
tant that  the  teacher  should  understand  the  nature  of  mania, 
melancholia,  paranoia,  and  especially  imbecility,  or  inborn 
idiocy.  Of  the  latter,  he  should  be  able  to  recognize  epi- 
lepsy, and  especially  neurasthenia  and  hysteria. 

I.   The  Psychic  Derangements 

Mania  may  be  recognized  chiefly  by  the  following  signs  : 
idea-rout,  i.e.,  abnormal  acceleration  of  the  processes  of 
ideation  ;  unnatural  exaltation  of  spirits ;  and  abnormal  in- 
crease of  the  motor  impulse.  Of  these  symptoms  the  most 
prominent  is  the  second.  The  other  two  have  already  been 
referred  to  as  simple  derangements.  The  abnormal  motor 
impulse  shows  itself  in  a  great  unrest.  Children  who  have 
previously  sat  quietly,  begin  to  rage  violently ;  books, 
clothes,  and  playthings  are  senselessly  destroyed,  quarrels 
and  fights  with  comrades  are  frequent.  Sleeplessness  is  a 
common  feature  of  these  cases,  while  in  connection  with  the 
abnormal  exaltation  of  spirits  is  an  inclination  towards 
boasting  and  lying.  In  school  the  subject  of  these  disorders 
is  inattentive,  defiant,  and  addicted  to  all  sorts  of  childish 
tricks.  Mania  in  children  is  not  altogether  uncommon. 
Three  examples  will  serve  to  illustrate  its  nature. 

Lahr  tells  of  a  nine-year-old  boy  who,  in  consequence  of 
rigorous  discipline,  was  frequently  in  a  bad  temper,  morbid 
and  gloomy.  Later  he  became  subject  to  passionate  ami 
wilful  outbreaks.  He  would  display  towards  others  a  rude- 
ness of  which  he  hail  never  previously  been  guilty.     In  all 


196  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

this  activity  he  showed  peculiar  haste.  His  temper  was 
cheerful,  his  eye  piercing,  his  sleep  restless.  He  answered 
questions  readily,  but  could  not  keep  his  attention  fixed. 

Esquirol  observed  an  eight-year-old  girl  who  became 
mentally  disturbed  after  a  severe  fright.  Her  speech  was 
for  the  most  part  correct,  but  she  was  incapable  of  prolonged 
attention.  Frequently  she  would  escape  from  her  mother 
or  governess,  and  roam  about  the  town.  Once  she  ran  into 
the  hotel  yard  and  ordered  the  horses  harnessed,  setting 
herself  up  as  mistress  of  the  house.  She  maintained  that 
she  had  won  a  large  sum  of  money  in  a  lottery.  If  she 
were  in  a  shop  she  would  pounce  upon  the  money  which  her 
mother  or  any  other  purchaser  might  be  paying  out.  She 
was  in  the  habit  of  striking  and  otherwise  tormenting  people 
with  whom  she  came  into  contact,  especially  if  they  came 
near  her  mother.  Often  she  would  sit  in  a  dreamy  state, 
but  the  instant  she  came  out  of  it  she  was  as  restless  and 
mischievous  as  ever.  She  absolutely  refused  to  obey  her 
mother  in  anything. 

Schonthal  describes  the  following  case :  A  girl  of  thirteen 
stumbled  on  a  staircase,  fell  forward,  and,  her  feet  having 
caught,  remained  hanging  for  some  little  time  head  down- 
wards. Although  soon  rescued  from  her  position,  she  was 
terribly  frightened.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  she 
was  seized  with  twitchings  and  contortions  of  the  limbs. 
Occasionally  her  whole  body  would  be  convulsed.  After 
the  spasms  she  was  cheerful,  but  excited,  laughing  and 
talking  a  great  deal.  Psychical  irregularities  showed  them- 
selves. She  refused  to  work  at  anything,  was  abnormally 
cheerful,  and  inclined  to  play  all  kinds  of  tricks.  For  in- 
stance, she  went  walking  in  a  brook,  barefooted,  and  carry- 
ing an  umbrella.  She  would  sing  and  whistle,  and  not 
infrequently  use  unbecoming  language.  She  would  strike 
her  mother  [and  sisters,  was  disobedient,  would  run  away 


PSYCHOPATHIC   CONDITIONS   IN   CHILD   LIFE      197 

from  home,  and  play  foolish  pranks.  The  paroxysms  in- 
creased in  severity  and  duration,  so  that  eventually  the  girl 
was  quite  incapable  of  sitting  quietly  at  any  work.  While 
she  slept  the  spasms  ceased,  but  sleep  itself  was  disturbed. 

Melancholia  is  a  mental  disorder  whose  chief  symptoms 
are  retardation  of  the  thought  processes,  abnormal  sadness 
or  depression,  and  unnatural  restriction  of  movement.  Mel- 
ancholy is  the  outstanding  mark.  Inertia  shows  itself  in 
the  slowness  of  all  movements.  The  child  sits  for  hours  in 
the  same  place,  disinclined  for  even  the  least  movements. 
Melancholia  occurs  in  childhood  more  frequently  than  mania. 
Of  179  children  mentally  afflicted,  whom  Blin  observed,  54 
suffered  from  melancholia,  and  35  from  mania.  Many  child 
suicides  are  the  result  of  melancholia.  The  following  cases 
will  illustrate  this  disorder: 

Ziehen  observed  a  fourteen-year-old  boy  whose  develop- 
ment in  early  childhood  was  normal.  At  school  he  was 
pedantic  and  conscientious  to  an  exaggerated  degree,  as  well 
as  being  easily  thrown  into  over-anxiety.  Aside  from  this, 
however,  he  was  of  a  cheerful  temperament.  Although  he 
did  not  learn  very  easily,  he  was  among  the  best  scholars  in 
the  class.  When  his  mother  was  afflicted  with  a  mental 
disorder,  the  boy  was  so  grieved  that  his  depression  assumed 
the  character  of  a  disease.  He  became  dull  of  comprehen- 
sion, and  disinclined  to  work.  He  would  mistake  his 
father's  instructions,  complained  of  fear,  and  ate  and  slept 
but  little.  A  fall  aggravated  his  condition  seriously.  All 
day  he  stared  gloomily  before  him,  refusing  food,  and  com- 
plaining of  a  pain  in  the  breast. 

Falret  reports  the  following  case  :  A  boy  eleven  years 
old,  of  a  very  cheerful  disposition,  suddenly  began  to  neglect 
some  of  his  exercises,  excusing  himself  by  saying  that  he 
had  just  returned  from  his  vacation  and  had  not  yet  gotten 
used  to  work.     Iu  spite  of  severe  and  repeated  punishment, 


198  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OP   CHILDHOOD 

he  obstinately  refused  to  do  his  exercises.  He  became  mor- 
bid, had  violent  headaches,  refused  food,  slept  little,  and 
finally  conceived  the  idea  of  ending  his  life  by  voluntary 
starvation.  After  two  days  of  fasting  he  grew  tired  of  his 
plan,  and  took  food  once  more.  The  idea  of  suicide  per- 
sisted, however,  for  about  a  year.  He  sought  constantly  to 
separate  himself  from  others,  and  once  he  escaped  during  a 
walk,  and  ran  to  the  river  to  throw  himself  in.  In  this  he 
was  prevented.  At  last  the  holidays  came,  and  he  returned 
to  his  home.  His  father  threatened  to  put  him  to  work  in 
the  fields  if  he  did  not  alter  his  conduct.  These  reproaches 
from  his  father,  who  had  never  punished  him  unjustly, 
saddened  him  immeasurably.  The  idea  of  suicide  became 
stronger  than  ever,  but  the  gentle  treatment  he  received 
from  his  mother  finally  drove  it  from  his  mind. 

Emminghaus  relates  the  story  of  a  girl  of  fourteen  who 
was  attacked,  and  greatly  terrified,  by  a  flock  of  turkeys. 
Dizziness,  pains  in  the  head,  heart  palpitations,  loss  of 
appetite  and  sleep,  followed.  At  night,  just  before  falling 
asleep,  she  had  phantasms  of  hearing,  when  she  heard  the 
screams  of  turkeys.  This  would  be  followed  by  attacks  of 
nightmare.  She  lost  all  inclination  to  work,  stayed  in 
whatever  spot  she  happened  to  be,  and  spoke  no  word  un- 
asked. Often  she  would  sigh  heavily,  and  when  jokingly 
addressed,  would  smile  listlessly.  Her  voice  was  low  and 
without  expression.  When  questioned,  she  would  simply 
say  "  I  am  sad,"  without  giving  any  reason. 

This  case  is  described  by  West :  A  five-year  old  boy  was 
taken  to  his  father's  funeral.  The  boy,  who  was  slightly 
ill  at  the  time,  was  seen  to  shudder  violently,  and  by  signs 
he  indicated  a  headache.  Thenceforth  for  the  most  part  he 
spoke  no  more,  refused  food,  and  simply  lay  in  bed,  silent 
and  indifferent  to  all  around  him.  After  a  slight  improve- 
ment, the  melancholy,  indifference,  and  drowsiness  returned. 


PSYCHOPATHIC  CONDITIONS    in    CHILD    LIFE      1!'!) 

Now  and  then  ho  called  for  his  mother,  even  when  she  was 
by  his  side.  The  lethargy  increased  steadily  for  sixteen 
days,  when  he  died. 

The  presence  of  paranoia  is  indicated  by  hallucinations 
and  delusions.  These  have  been  referred  to  already  as 
elementary  psychic  disorders.  According  as  hallucinations 
or  delusions  predominate,  we  speak  of  hallucinatory  para- 
noia, or  simple  paranoia.  The  former  is  not  rare  in  child- 
hood. The  latter  occurs  oftener  in  boys  than  girls.  Blin 
reports  that  out  of  179  mentally  afflicted  children  observed 
by  him,  there  were  26  cases  of  paranoia.  A  few  examples 
may  make  clear  the  nature  of  the  phantasies  of  this 
disorder. 

Ziehen  observed  the  case  of  a  boy  of  thirteen,  in  whom 
hallucinations  and  illusions  occurred  more  and  more  as  time 
went  on.  "  He  heard  a  knocking,  as  upon  an  empty  pot." 
He  saw  a  coffin  on  the  wall,  and  the  eyes  of  a  spectre.  He 
saw  snails  in  his  food.  His  shoes  appeared  to  him  as  horses' 
heads.  At  night  he  saw  flames  of  fire,  and  hid  himself 
under  the  bedclothes.  The  figures  in  the  pictures  on  the 
wall  were  altered  before  his  eyes.  He  considered  himself 
very  talented,  and  wrote  political  essays.  He  held  aloof 
from  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  once  he  said  to  his  mother, 
"  I  decline  any  teaching ;  you  are  not  of  our  stock." 

Meschede  tells  of  a  five-year-old  girl  who  saw  before  the 
window  her  playmates  as  enemies,  in  the  attitude  of  strik- 
ing her.  She  saw  bread  lying  on  an  empty  plate ;  believed 
that  the  food  which  was  given  to  her  contained  poison ;  heard, 
in  absolute  stillness,  her  baby  sister  crying.  She  complained 
that  her  sister  had  beaten  her  with  a  stick,  and  that  her 
mother  had  put  crumbs  in  her  bed.  She  imagined  that 
worms  crawled  over  her  hands  and  eyes,  also  all  kinds  of 
strange  flies.  Then  the  idea  took  possession  of  her  that 
some  one  was  going  to  steal  her  and  her  sister ;  so  she  begged 


200  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

her  mother  to  lock  the  door,  and  would  not  rest  until  the 
key  was  brought  to  her. 

Steiner  tells  of  a  boy  of  twelve,  who,  without  any  ap- 
parent cause,  was  seized  with  the  delusion  that  his  own 
father  wanted  to  kill  him.  Whenever  he  saw  his  father, 
he  showed  great  uneasiness,  and  tried  to  run  away.  If  he 
found  the  door  closed,  he  would  try  to  jump  out  of  the  win- 
dow; if  prevented  in  this,  he  would  seek  other  means  of 
escape.  One  night,  when  he  considered  himself  unwatched, 
he  got  out  of  bed  and  went  quickly  to  the  window  to  jump 
down.  With  this  in  mind  he  would  also  sometimes  retire  to 
his  bed  without  undressing. 

In  cases  of  mania,  melancholia,  and  paranoia,  the  teacher 
can  do  but  little.  The  parents  should  be  urged  to  consult 
an  expert  alienist.  Pedagogical  influences  in  these  cases 
have  no  result.  Especially  should  the  teacher  avoid  any  re- 
sort to  punishment  in  dealing  with  these  disorders. 

Imbecility.  The  chief  symptoms  of  this  mental  disease 
are  weakness  of  memory  and  weakness  of  judgment.  These 
have  already  been  discussed  where  they  appear  as  simple 
disorders  of  the  mind.  The  former  shows  itself  in  the  lack 
of  ideas,  the  latter  in  the  incapacity  to  associate  ideas. 
Both  are  conditional  on  a  diseased  state  of  the  brain.  Im- 
becility is  of  three  grades,  according  to  the  degree  of  men- 
tal weakness.  The  severest  form  is  idiocy,  the  lightest 
may  be  called  debility,  the  intermediate  simply  imbecility. 
Sharp  lines  of  distinction,  however,  cannot  be  drawn  be- 
tween these,  nor  between  "  debility  "  and  the  normal  state. 
Innate  mental  weakness  occurs  quite  frequently.  Statistics 
gathered  in  Switzerland  showed  that  of  1000  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen,  not  less  than  15.3  were 
mentally  weak  in  some  degree. 

Idiocy  is  characterized  by  an  incapacity  to  acquire  ideas, 
or  to  connect  those  that  already  exist.    The  idiot  May  re- 


PSYCHOPATHIC    CONDITIONS    IN   CHILD    LIFE       201 

ceive  impressions  of  sight  or  hearing  ever  so  frequently,  and 
yet  obtain  from  them  no  memory  image.  Therefore  he  be- 
comes acquainted  neither  with  his  family  nor  with  his  sur- 
roundings. Tn  idiocy  of  a  less  pronounced  type  single 
concrete  ideas  are  acquired.  The  treatment  of  idiocy  is  the 
business  of  the  professional  alienist.  Idiots  should  not  be 
received  into  the  school  under  any  circumstances.  Two  ex- 
amples will  serve  to  illustrate  this  condition. 

Ziehen  tells  of  a  three-year-old  boy  who  was  blind  from 
his  birth.  His  skull  was  of  an  exceedingly  strange  shape. 
The  left  half  seemed  to  be  pushed  crookedly  against  the 
right  half.  The  forehead  projected  towards  the  right,  but 
the  back  of  the  head  inclined  prominently  to  the  left.  The 
bones  of  the  trunk  showed  strong  indications  of  rickets. 
The  child  could  neither  walk,  stand,  nor  speak.  He  could 
make  some  inarticulate  cries.  Among  the  imitations  laugh- 
ter was  not  included.  His  arms  and  legs  were  not  crippled, 
as  was  shown  by  occasional  struggling,  and  other  move- 
ments. But  the  complex  movements  of  grasping,  holding, 
and  the  like,  were  entirely  wanting.  If  an  object  were  laid 
upon  his  hand,  he  would  let  it  fall  again  immediately.  He 
had  greater  difficulty  in  swallowing  liquid  than  solid  food. 
On  being  called,  he  would  respond  in  an  almost  normal  way. 
He  appeared  to  distinguish  the  voices  of  his  family  from 
those  of  strangers,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  could  not  dis- 
tinguish the  voice  of  his  father  from  that  of  his  mother. 
His  sensitiveness  to  pain  was  limited. 

Moreau  observed  the  case  of  a  girl  of  twelve  whose 
body  was  misshapen  and  scrofulous.  At  the  age  of 
seven  she  coidd  not  yet  walk.  She  occupied  herself  with 
nothing,  took  no  interest  in  anything.  It  was  only  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  that  she  understood  the  simple  ques- 
tions of  everyday  life.  After  her  seventh  year  she  began 
to  stand  a  little  by  herself ;  and  her  reason  (or  rather  her 


202  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

instinct)  developed  somewhat.  But  at  the  age  of  eleven, 
owing  to  a  bad  accident,  she  was  thrown  back  into  complete 
mental  oblivion.  From  this  time  on  she  lost  the  few  im- 
pressions she  had  received,  and  not  long  afterwards  paralysis 
set  in  in  her  left  side,  and  this  was  followed  by  epileptic 
fits. 

In  imbecility  in  the  limited  sense  there  is  a  greater  number 
of  ideas  than  in  idiocy.  The  imbecile  learns  to  recognize 
persons  and  things,  and  not  infrequently  he  can  distinguish 
colors  and  simple  numbers.  Usually,  however,  he  lacks  the 
power  to  fix  his  attention  on  one  object  for  any  length  of 
time.  He  can  associate  only  concrete  ideas.  Outbursts  of 
passion  are  far  more  frequent  than  with  idiots.  They 
almost  all  show  selfishness  and  vinclictiveness  of  dispo- 
sition much  more  than  sympathy  and  gratitude.  The  im- 
becile lacks  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong.  His  vocab- 
ulary consists  chiefly  of  words  representing  sensible 
objects;  he  can  also  form  simple  sentences.  Many  even 
succeed  in  obtaining  a  scanty  knowledge  of  reading  and 
writing.  But  the  ability  to  speak  is  acquired  very  late. 
The  actions  of  imbeciles  are  much  more  varied  than  those  of 
idiots,  but  there  is  seldom  any  deliberation,  and  their  acts 
seem  to  be  performed  by  instinct.  As  imbeciles  are  ca- 
pable of  complex  actions,  they  may  become  dangerous. 
Thefts,  incendiarism,  and  other  misdeeds  are  not  rare 
among  them,  and  hence  they  require  careful  watching. 
Their  treatment  is,  on  the  whole,  the  same  as  that  of  idiots. 
A  few  cases  will  show  more  clearly  the  character  and  de- 
meanor of  these  imbeciles. 

Moreau  tells  of  a  thirteen-year-old  girl  whom  the  mother 
could  not  keep  with  her,  on  account  of  her  bad  behavior. 
Her  development  had  been  retarded  from  her  earliest  years. 
She  would  show  sudden  outbursts  of  anger  and  impulse  to 
destroy  things.     Her  power  of  judgment  was  not  sufficient 


PSYCHOPATHIC    CONDITIONS    IN    CHILD   LIFE      203 

to  guide  her  actions.  She  was  excitable  in  the  highest  de- 
gree, and  could  not  remain  more  than  an  instant  in  one  place. 
She  would  relate  her  misdemeanors  without  any  hesitation. 
She  could  scarcely  read  or  write,  and  showed  violent  dislike 
to  any  work. 

Calmeil  was  acquainted  with  an  imbecile  of  seventeen 
years  whose  younger  brother  was  also  weak-minded.  If 
these  brothers  were  refused  anything  they  wanted,  they 
would  become  extremely  violent,  so  that  it  required  great 
force  to  hold  them  back. 

Moreau  mentions  a  weak-minded  boy  of  seven  years  of 
age  who  tried  to  strangle  his  sister.  Another  imbecile 
murdered  his  two  nephews,  and  then  with  laughter  told  the 
news  to  their  parents. 

In  debility  there  may  be  a  considerable  number  of  con- 
crete ideas,  but  they  are  acquired  much  later  than  in  chil- 
dren of  normal  mental  caliber.  Color  distinctions  and  ideas 
of  number  are  particularly  late  in  becoming  developed. 
Still  more  striking  is  the  lack  of  associated  or  complex 
ideas.  Such  children  learn  only  with  great  difficulty  to 
distinguish  a  pine  tree  from  a  fir.  General  notions  in 
the  main  are  not  acquired.  They  soon  learn,  for  example, 
to  use  the  word  "merchant,"  but  they  connect  the  word 
only  with  certain  individuals  known  to  them.  Ideas  such 
as  "  city,"  "  religion,"  "  property,"  "  wrong,"  are  not  gen- 
erally comprehended.  The  attention  cannot  long  be  held 
on  one  thing.  In  the  education  of  these  children  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  know  that  with  them  the  intellec- 
tual feelings  are  formed  very  late,  and  altruistic  feeling  is 
arrested  in  development.  The  power  to  speak,  walk,  grasp, 
etc.,  is  always  acquired  later  than  in  normal  children. 
Defects  in  speech  are  common,  especially  stammering. 
Vicious  propensities,  such  as  falsehood,  truancy,  and  the 
like,  are  early  acquired,  and  punishment,  as  a  rule,  is  futile. 


204  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

In  composition  and  arithmetic  these  children  usually  ac- 
complish nothing. 

In  their  treatment  the  physician  and  the  teacher  must 
work  together.  The  former  must  determine  the  physical 
and  mental  condition  of  the  patient,  in  order  to  determine 
the  treatment.  The  latter  must  then  fit  his  instruction  ex- 
actly to  the  condition  of  the  child.  This  is  impossible  in 
the  ordinary  school  classes,  and  so  in  many  cities  special 
classes  have  been  formed  for  these  pupils. 

In  the  present  connection  we  have  still  to  mention  a  cer- 
tain type  of  peculiar  moral  perversion,  whose  nature  may 
best  be  shown  by  means  of  an  example.  Binswanger  tells  of 
a  ten-year-old  boy  the  following  :  At  the  beginning  of  his 
attendance  at  school,  in  his  sixth  year,  it  became  apparent 
that  he  was  mentally  quite  unfit  for  education,  being  un- 
able to  follow  instruction,  do  exercises,  or  acquire  even 
the  simplest  kinds  of  knowledge.  Now,  after  three  and  a 
half  years  of  schooling,  he  has  not  succeeded  so  far  as  to 
write  his  name,  or  set  down  single  letters,  or  one-syllable 
words  from  a  copy.  He  can  neither  read  nor  count.  He 
sits,  as  his  teacher  expressed  it,  blankly  in  the  classroom. 
In  spite  of  careful  teaching,  he  has  not  made  the  least 
progress  in  arithmetic  or  writing.  He  shows  a  great  deal  of 
moral  perversion.  He  drowned  cats,  tormented  other  ani- 
mals, intruded  when  unwatched  into  strange  premises,  let 
the  cattle  out  of  the  stalls,  and  killed  the  fowls.  It  is  said 
that  he  even  made  an  attempt  upon  the  life  of  a  schoolmate. 
At  nine  years  of  age  he  made  vicious  attacks  upon  his 
companions.  According  to  the  teacher's  report,  the  boy  can 
be  employed  to  run  errands,  carry  out  verbal  commissions, 
etc.  In  the  psychiatric  clinic  he  shows  great  motor  unrest, 
and  when  told  to  be  still,  obeys  only  for  a  few  moments. 
He  scrambles  over  everything,  mounts  the  tables  and  chairs, 
rummages  through  other   patients'  beds,  and  tries  to  take 


PSYCHOPATHIC   CONDITIONS   IN   CHILD   LIFE      205 

their  food  from  them,  often  threatening  them  with  violence. 
He  is  noisy,  importunate,  curious,  dirty,  indecent,  unreason- 
able, and  indifferent  to  every  admonition.  He  shows  no 
longing  for  home.  He  likes  it  where  he  is  ;  for  he  has 
good  things  to  eat,  he  says.  The  significance  of  Christmas 
and  New  Year  he  does  not  know.  At  first  he  would  do 
no  work,  but  continually  played  malicious  jokes,  sang, 
whistled,  howled,  locked  the  doors,  and  hid  things  away. 
Once  he  counterfeited  right  cleverly  an  epileptic  fit  which 
he  had  witnessed.  At  various  times  he  committed  thefts, 
taking  things  from  the  clothes  of  his  fellow-patients.  Some- 
times he  would  give  the  stolen  things  away.  When  ques- 
tioned, he  could  give  no  reason  for  his  conduct,  nor  did  he 
seem  to  have  any  conception  that  his  behavior  was  wrong. 
He  shows  a  disposition  to  tease  and  torment  helpless  pa- 
tients. He  cannot  be  left  alone  with  other  youthful  patients, 
for  he  leads  them  into  vicious  ways. 

II.   The  Neuroses,  or  Nerve  Diseases 

Neurasthenia  is  indicated  by  the  following  symptoms: 
hypersensibility  and  abnormal  sensations ;  lassitude  in 
respect  of  association  of  ideas,  and  also  in  respect  of  volun- 
tary movements ;  abnormal  irritability  ;  disturbed  sleep. 

Hypersensibility  occurs  most  frequently  in  the  case  of 
hearing.  Neurasthenic  children  become  immoderately  ex- 
cited by  loud  noises.  They  are  troubled  by  abnormal  sensa- 
tions, such  as  the  "  going  to  sleep  "  of  the  arms  and  legs, 
and  by  "  pins  and  needles  "  sensations.  This  is  regularly 
accompanied  by  a  feeling  of  pressure  or  pain  in  the  head. 
Weakness  in  regard  to  association  of  ideas  shows  itself  in 
the  rapid  abatement  of  the  attention.  Thought  processes 
are  slow.  Nervous  children  work  at  first  as  quickly  and  as 
correctly  as  healthy  children,  but  the  power  of  mental  work 


206  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

diminishes  very  rapidly.  Lassitude  in  respect  of  movement 
shows  itself  in  a  diminished  power  of  physical  endurance. 
Nervous  children  tire  quickly  in  walking,  running,  reading, 
or  writing.  Their  sleep  is  badly  disturbed.  Sometimes 
they  are  a  long  time  in  getting  to  sleep,  and  sometimes 
they  toss  restlessly  and  have  disturbing  dreams.  In 
the  morning  they  are  not  refreshed,  but  feel  weak  and 
wretched. 

As  has  been  shown  by  Arndt,  Emminghaus,  Oppenheim, 
Sanger,  Ziehen,  and  others,  neurasthenia  occurs  very  fre- 
quently in  children.  It  is  more  common  among  the  children 
of  the  cultured  classes,  and  more  frequent  in  cities  than 
among  country  children.  Boys  and  girls  are  about  equally 
liable  to  it.  Since  neurasthenia,  if  neglected  too  long, 
becomes  incurable,  it  is  the  teacher's  duty  to  bring  such 
cases  to  the  attention  of  the  parents,  and  urge  them  to 
consult  a  physician.  If  neurasthenia  is  not  checked  in  its 
development,  the  nervous  child  will  grow  up  into  a  nervous 
adult,  unfit  for  work,  and  a  burden  to  himself  and  others. 
Parents  and  teachers,  therefore,  should  earnestly  take  it 
upon  themselves  to  guard  against  neurasthenia.  For  this 
reason  no  alcoholic  drinks,  no  tea,  coffee,  or  tobacco,  should 
be  given  to  children.  The  air  of  the  schoolroom  and  the 
sleeping  room  should  be  pure  and  rich  in  oxygen.  Children 
should  have  daily  exercise  and  active  games  in  the  open  air. 
Special  attention  should  be  given  to  the  matter  of  sleep. 
Children  from  six  to  ten  years  of  age  should  go  to  bed  at 
seven  o'clock,  and  those  from  eleven  to  fifteen  years,  at  nine 
o'clock  at  the  latest.  Mental  overexertion  should  by  all 
means  be  avoided.  Hence  the  school  should  be  selected  ac- 
cording to  the  constitution  of  the  child,  not  according  to  the 
wealth  or  social  position  of  the  parents.  Excessive  home 
work  should  not  be  imposed  on  children  who  spend  several 
hours  every  day  in  school.     Between  the  school  classes  there 


PSYCHOPATHIC   CONDITIONS   IN   CHILD   LIFE      207 

should  be  frequent  pauses  for  rest  and  recreation.  A  few- 
cases  will  illustrate  the  state  of  neurasthenia. 

Emminghaua  is  responsible  for  the  following  story  of  a 
thirteen-year-old  girl:  She  was  an  orphan,  and  grew  up 
among  strangers.  A  serious  disposition,  very  sensitive  to 
injury,  had  been  noticed  in  her  from  the  first.  Her  mental 
power  had  always  been  good.  Learning  was  easy  for  her, 
and  in  it  she  displayed  an  ardent  ambition  until  about  three 
months  ago.  Then  she  began  to  show  a  dislike  and  an  in- 
capacity for  strenuous  work,  together  with  a  lack  of  attention 
in  school,  failure  of  memory,  and  a  dreamy,  indolent  mood. 
She  would  withdraw  from  her  companions,  and  was  found 
regularly  in  her  room,  lying  on  the  bed,  or  busy  with  some 
hand  work.  Her  sleep  was  poor,  nocturnal  frights  were 
frequent,  and  she  rose  in  the  morning  with  great  reluctance. 
She  complained  of  headache.  Her  complexion  was  pale, 
but  would  sometimes  turn  suddenly  to  vivid  red.  Irregu- 
larities of  appetite  became  frequent. 

Gimtz  gives  us  the  story  of  an  eleven-year-old  boy  whose 
father  was  anxious  to  make  something  extraordinary  out  of 
him,  and  not  only  sought  clever  teachers,  but  insisted  on 
numerous  classes  and  lessons.  Every  success  led  the  father 
to  urge  the  boy  on  all  the  more.  Gradually  he  lost  his 
cheerfulness,  and  became  careless  about  attending  school. 
In  school  he  became  inattentive,  and  consequently  soon  had 
bad  reports.  This  resulted  in  severe  punishments  from  his 
father.  All  the  symptoms  of  neurasthenia  followed,  and 
these  brought  after  them  still  more  serious  psychopathic 
conditions,  of  longer  duration. 

Sanger  observed  an  eleven-year-old  boy  who  became 
troubled  with  such  a  persistent  winking  of  the  eyes  as  pre- 
vented him  from  doing  his  school  tasks.  He  was  a  pale, 
delicate  boy,  who  suffered  acutely  from  attacks  of  fear.  He 
did  not  like  to  be  left  alone,  was  afraid  of  thunder-storms, 


208  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

and  slept  very  badly.  He  was  an  industrious  and  ambitious 
pupil.  On  Sanger's  advice  lie  was  taken  out  of  school  for 
four  weeks,  whereupon,  by  suitable  treatment,  a  complete 
cure  was  effected. 

Hysteria  is  a  nervous  disorder  whose  symptoms  are  dis- 
turbances of  the  touch  sensations,  and  of  the  higher  sense- 
activities,  morbid  abstraction  and  hyperphantasy,  altera- 
tions of  the  disposition,  such  as  increase  of  selfishness,  and, 
in  nearly  all  cases,  convulsions,  and  sometimes  paralysis. 

Of  these  symptoms  hyperphantasy  and  the  change  of  dis- 
position are  the  most  prominent.  Disturbances  of  sensations 
show  themselves  first  and  foremost  in  "  hysterical "  pains. 
For  example,  one  hysterical  child  will  complain  of  pain  in 
one  part  of  the  body,  and  another  of  pain  in  another  part. 
The  disturbances  of  the  higher  sense-activities  are  shown  in 
illusions  and  hallucinations,  for  the  most  part  of  sight. 
These  occur  more  frequently  by  night  than  by  day.  In 
these  illusions  animals,  threatening  forms,  flowers,  coffins, 
graves,  angels,  etc.,  play  a  large  part.  For  example,  a 
twelve-year-old  girl  saw,  as  she  was  passing  through  a  church- 
yard, a  little  form  run  after  her,  then  fall  back  and  vanish 
into  the  grave. 

Generally,  a  hysterical  child  can  concentrate  the  atten- 
tion but  poorly  ;  hence  abstraction  of  mind  is  an  important 
symptom,  as  are  also  errors  of  memory.  These  have  their 
source  in  an  abnormally  exaggerated  fancy,  which  trans- 
forms the  memory  pictures.  From  the  same  cause  a  hysteri- 
cal child  is  given  to  the  invention  of  fantastical  tales.  He 
imagines  he  has  been  overtaken  and  attacked  by  animals. 
Many  of  these  false  memories  are  involuntary,  but  in  some 
cases  the  child  is  quite  aware  of  his  falsehood,  which  then 
is  of  the  nature  of  a  pathological  lie.  Through  such  lies 
hysterical  children  seek  to  make  themselves  interesting,  to 
gratify  a  desire,  or  to  avoid  a  punishment.     Their  feelings 


PSYCHOPATHIC    CONDITIONS    IN    CHILD    LIFE      209 

are  subject  to  unusual  changes :  love  and  hate,  joy  and  sad- 
ness, anger  and  fear,  follow  quickly  one  upon  the  other. 
Another  peculiarity  of  most  hysterical  children  is  abnormal 
selfishness.  Their  whole  thought  is  centred  upon  the  self. 
This  is  shown  also  in  their  inordinate  vanity.  The  physical 
symptoms  are  manifold,  but  these  have  more  interest  for 
the  doctor  than  for  the  teacher.  We  might  mention,  how- 
ever, the  cramping  or  crippling  of  the  limbs,  or  of  the  organs 
of  speech,  of  the  muscles  of  the  eyes,  and  other  muscular 
groups.  Convulsive  crying,  laughing,  vomiting,  and  trem- 
bling are  not  rare. 

Briquet,  Jolly,  Cloppat,  Goldspiegel,  Schafer,  Furstner, 
Smidt,  Seeligmuller,  Henoch,  Riegel,  Tuczeck,  Emminghaus, 
Brans,  Sanger,  Ziehen,  Eulenberg,  Bezy,  Bibent,  Berillon, 
Tailor,  Biller,  Binswanger,  Oppenheim,  and  other  nerve 
specialists  have  shown  that  hysteria  is  of  frequent  occur- 
rence among  children,  surpassing  even  inborn  imbecility, 
neurasthenia,  or  any  other  "psychopathy."  Girls  are 
afflicted  with  it  somewhat  more  frequently  than  boys ;  and 
city  children  more  than  country  children.  It  is  often 
brought  on  by  a  fright,  an  injury,  or  a  psychic  infection. 
Epidemics  of  hysteria  have  been  known  to  occur  in  schools. 
We  need  only  refer  to  the  epidemic  of  trembling  that  broke 
out  in  1891-2  in  a  girls'  school  at  Basel  and  in  1905-6  in  a 
public  school  at  Meissen.  If  hysteria  lasts  a  long  time,  it 
becomes  incurable.  The  hysterical  child  grows  into  the 
hysterical  man  or  woman,  and  that,  as  Brock  justly  says,  is 
an  unmitigated  misfortune  for  the  patient,  and  scarcely  less 
so  for  his  neighbors.  Therefore  everything  should  be  done 
to  correct  the  disorder  at  its  beginnings.  In  this  the  teacher 
can  do  important  service.  If  he  believes  he  sees  symptoms 
of  hysteria,  he  should  inform  the  child's  parents,  and  urge 
them  to  consult  a  physician.  The  treatment  most  efficacious 
has  been  well   characterized    by  Ewald :     "  Not  medicine, 


210  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

but  the  doctor  and  the  teacher,  must  cure  hysteria."  The 
influences  brought  to  bear  must  not  be  medicinal,  but 
hygienic  and  pedagogical.  Hence  the  teacher  must  work 
hand  in  hand  with  the  doctor.  He  can  assist  by  restraining 
the  child's  phantasy,  and  by  keeping  from  him  such  books 
as  would  excite  the  mind  or  hold  it  in  tension.  He  should 
train  the  pupil  to  the  mastery  of  his  passions,  and  to  the 
love  of  truth.  In  hysterical  children  not  only  every  un- 
truth but  every  exaggeration  must  at  once  be  corrected. 
He  must  further  insist  that  the  hysterical  child  associate 
with  the  other  children,  and  learn  to  adapt  himself  to  them, 
feeling  himself  a  member  of  the  class,  though  not  the  centre. 
Unlike  neurasthenia  and  debility,  there  is  no  danger  of 
overloading  the  hysterical  child.  He  can  do  the  same  work 
as  the  normal  child,  except  that  allowance  must  be  made 
for  that  abstraction  which  is  the  accompaniment  of  hysteria. 
"  Heavy  mental  work,"  says  Ziehen,  "  injures  the  hysterical 
child  far  less  than  fantastical  dreaming."  Considering  the 
unusual  variety  of  forms  which  this  disorder  may  take,  it  is 
well  to  add  a  few  illustrations. 

Ziehen  tells  of  a  boy  of  sixteen  who  had  been  a  good 
scholar,  but  whose  conduct  altered  materially  after  some 
attacks  of  convulsions.  He  sent  to  his  own  address  tele- 
grams signed  with  another  name.  In  these  despatches  he 
was  congratulated  that  he  was  soon  to  be  a  great  man  and  a 
millionnaire.  Now  the  family  need  want  no  more.  To 
each  of  his  brothers  and  sisters  he  bequeathed  100,000 
marks.  He  was  invited  into  the  State  Cabinet,  etc.  Such 
despatches  arrived  from  time  to  time.  On  one  occasion  the 
boy  stole  a  valuable  ring  from  his  sister,  and  pawned  it. 
But  even  when  the  pawn  ticket  was  shown  him,  he  main- 
tained that  he  had  not  taken  the  ring.  On  another  occasion 
he  said  that  he  had  been  in  the  hospital,  and  had  been  oper- 
ated on  for  heart  trouble.     Thereupon  he  showed  his  breast, 


PSYCHOPATHIC  CONDITIONS   IN   CHILD    LIFE      -11 

over  which  he  had  placed  a  bandage.  When  this  was  re- 
moved, and  no  wound  was  seen,  he  said  that  the  wound  w  us 
so  small  that  it  could  not  be  seen,  but  that  a  pint  of  water 
and  a  basin  of  blood  had  been  drawn  out  of  his  heart,  and 
glass  tubes  inserted  in  it. 

Ewald  observed  the  case  of  a  nine-year-old  boy  who  was 
always  very  lively,  and  at  times  quite  wild  and  tyrannical 
over  the  whole  household.  When  he  had  to  try  an  examina- 
tion for  admittance  to  a  higher  school,  he  became  very  much 
exercised.  Although  successful  in  this  examination,  he  be- 
gan, a  few  days  later,  to  vomit  after  every  meal,  and  this  con- 
tinued for  more  than  six  weeks.  Then  he  went  with  his 
mother  to  the  country,  and  during  his  visit  was  quite  normal. 
On  returning,  however,  to  his  home  and  to  school,  the  trouble 
began  again,  with  other  symptoms.  For  weeks  before  his  re- 
moval to  the  hospital  nothing  would  remain  on  his  stomach, 
and  his  parents,  finding  themselves  unable  to  bring  about 
any  relief,  became  very  much  concerned.  He  came  with  his 
father  to  the  hospital,  and  proved  himself,  after  his  recep- 
tion, to  be  a  very  difficult  youth  to  manage.  Whenever  his 
father  left  the  room  for  a  few  minutes,  he  would  break  out 
into  regular  Indian  war  whoops.  At  night  he  would  spring 
out  of  bed  and  run  out  upon  the  lawn  in  his  night-clothes,  if 
his  father,  who  slept  in  the  next  room,  was  not  right  on  the 
spot.  He  would  take  no  food,  and  immediately  threw  up 
undigested  any  that  was  administered  to  him.  It  seemed 
clear  that  in  this  case  a  spoilt  boy  was  to  be  dealt  with,  and 
that  Ewald's  task  was  more  pedagogical  than  medical.  So  he 
sent  the  father  away  for  a  time,  and  talked  earnestly  to  the 
boy,  with  the  result  that  the  cries  for  "  Papa  "  became  less 
frequent  and  less  noisy.  He  was  kept  in  bed  and  for  three 
days  was  sustained  exclusively  by  injected  nourishment. 
The  first  day  he  vomited  a  quantity  of  slime.  His  raging 
and  screaming  continued,  but  that  it  had  no  real  significance 


212  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD 

was  seen  from  the  fact  that  if  any  one  began  talking  to  him 
on  a  subject  in  which  he  was  interested,  he  would  become 
quite  reasonable,  give  orderly  answers,  and  be  still  for  the 
time  being. 

Ziehen  gives  the  following  story  of  a  girl  of  thirteen : 
From  time  to  time  she  had  attacks,  of  which  she  said,  "  It 
goes  to  my  heart,  and  I  get  so  frightened."  At  such  times 
she  would  fall  down,  but  without  crying  out,  her  body  would 
writhe  back  and  forth,  she  would  pull  her  hair,  drive  her 
fists  into  her  eyes  and  mouth,  beat  time  with  her  arms  and 
with  one  leg,  and  tear  her  clothes.  In  all  this  she  remained 
fully  conscious,  and  would  sometimes  laugh  and  call  her 
mother  to  her.  The  duration  of  the  attacks  varied  from  five 
minutes  to  eight  and  one-half  hours.  Sometimes  they  would 
occur  when  her  wishes  were  frustrated.  Bepeatedly  she 
attempted  suicide.  Once  she  told  her  parents  that  she  had 
eaten  matches.  Once  she  ran  away  from  home.  In  the 
hospital,  after  one  of  her  attacks,  she  maintained  that  she 
was  dying,  and  invented  the  most  horrible  stories  about  her 
father. 

Eulenberg  describes  the  case  of  a  twelve-year-old  girl  who 
was  crippled  and  quite  incapable  of  walking.  She  had  to 
be  carried  upstairs,  and  could  stand  only  for  a  short  time  with 
the  help  of  two  canes,  when  the  left  leg  would  "  go  to  sleep  " 
and  become  bent  in  a  curious  position,  remaining  so,  with 
the  sole  of  the  foot  upturned,  and  this  without  any  visible 
effort.  At  every  attempt  to  walk,  even  with  the  help  of  her 
sticks,  the  girl's  knees  would  suddenly  bend,  and  the  upper 
half  of  her  body  would  be  thrown  backward  in  the  most  pe- 
culiar way.  After  that  there  would  be  no  thought  of  volun- 
tary movement.  Eulenberg  sent  the  mother  into  the  next 
room,  kept  the  daughter  with  him,  and  depicted  to  her  what 
a  joyful  surprise  she  would  give  her  mother,  if  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  she  should  open  the  door  and  walk  into  the 


PSYCHOPATHIC    CONDITION'S    IN    CHILD    LIFE      213 

next  room  without  assistance.  This,  he  assured  her,  she  could 
certainly  accomplish,  if  she  would  be  willing  to  Bubmit  for 
a  little  while  to  a  painful  process.  He  then  showed  her  an 
electrical  machine,  and  told  her  she  must  lie  down  and  per- 
mit a  stream  of  sparks  to  play  on  her  back  and  legs  for  two 
and  a  half  minutes.  She  resolved  to  bear  the  ordeal,  and 
did  so  without  crying  out.  Afterwards  she  was  somewhat 
excited,  and  trembled,  but  allowed  herself  to  be  quieted, 
partook  of  some  biscuits  and  chocolate,  and  then,  straighten- 
ing herself  up,  walked  to  her  mother  in  the  next  room,  with- 
out difficulty  and  without  assistance. 

Sanger  tells  of  a  boy  of  nine  who  suddenly  became  unable 
to  read  or  write.  He  succeeded  in  reading  only  large  signs, 
and  on  being  asked  to  write  his  name,  produced  only  an  il- 
legible scrawl.  Preparations  were  made  to  remove  the  boy 
to  a  hospital.  Just  before  leaving  home,  the  father  told  the 
boy  that  the  doctors  would  take  his  eye  out  at  the  hospital. 
The  result  of  these  words  was  that  the  moment  the  boy 
arrived  at  the  hospital  he  was  able  both  to  read  and  to 
write. 

Epilepsy  is  a  nerve  trouble  whose  symptoms  are  as  follows  : 
Loss  of  memory  (amnesia),  generally  also  a  diminution  of 
the  power  of  thought,  abnormal  irritability,  dizziness,  and 
attacks  of  convulsions,  and  frequently  impairment  of  the 
moral  faculties.  The  most  prominent  of  these  symptoms  is 
the  loss  of  memory.  The  disorder  varies  both  in  degree  and 
in  duration.  Sometimes  it  appears  merely  as  a  slight  dim- 
ness of  recollection,  at  other  times  the  memory  completely 
disappears.  The  abnormal  irritability  has  already  been  dis- 
cussed as  an  elementary  disorder  of  the  psychic  life.  In 
the  epileptic  convulsions  we  see  three  stages :  in  the  prelim- 
inary stage  twitchings  of  certain  muscular  groups  occur,  to- 
gether with  unpleasant  sensations,  such  as  prickings  on  the 
skin,  and  flickerings  and  color  spots  before  the  eyes,  dizzi- 


214  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF    CHILDHOOD 

ness,  and  unusual  irritation.  In  the  convulsion  proper  the 
epileptic  loses  consciousness,  falls  to  the  ground,  and  has 
severe  spasms  in  all  the  muscles.  In  the  after  stage  the 
spasms  cease  slowly  and  the  unconscious  sufferer  sinks  into 
a  deep  sleep.  The  epileptic  may  become  dangerous  in  his 
half-conscious  state.  Although  not  yet  conscious,  he  can, 
to  all  appearance,  apply  himself  to  activities  by  impulse,  and 
he  may  do  violent  acts.  In  epileptic  dizziness  consciousness 
is  dim  for  a  short  time  only,  but  the  patient  may  be  over- 
taken by  it  at' any  time,  and  during  any  employment. 

Epilepsy  is  not  rare  among  children.  According  to  statis- 
tics taken  in  Saxony  in  1889,  out  of  585,061  school  children 
there  were  864  epileptics,  of  whom  437  were  girls,  and  427 
boys.  Thus,  out  of  every  677  school  children  there  is  one 
epileptic.  Because  of  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  disease  the 
teaching  of  such  children  presents  great  difficulties.  After 
an  attack  such  children  are  liable  to  have  forgotten  every- 
thing again.  They  are  often  troubled  with  dizziness  with- 
out the  teacher's  knowledge.  Moreover,  the  irregular 
attendance  of  epileptic  children  at  school  is  in  the  highest 
degree  inimical  to  their  progress.  Their  peculiar  character- 
istics must  be  studied.  Very  often  they  are  averse  to  work 
from  their  earliest  youth,  often  they  are  whimsical,  mistrust- 
ful, egotistic,  selfish,  disobedient,  and  quarrelsome.  Some 
are  cunningly  deceptive  and  dishonest.  Two  stories  will 
illustrate  the  nature  of  epilepsy. 

Einminghaus  tells  of  a  boy  of  eleven  who  at  times  would 
obey  his  mother  quite  willingly;  at  other  times  he  would 
resist  her  uproariously.  Often  he  was  quite  stormy  in  de- 
manding his  own  way.  For  example,  he  was  determined  to 
go  swimming  and  riding,  though  he  knew  he  might  have 
an  epileptic  fit  at  any  moment.  He  was  also  determined  to 
drink  beer  immoderately,  in  spite  of  the  admonition  that 
spirituous  liquors  would  only  do  him  harm.     He  would  not 


PSYCHOPATHIC   CONDITIONS    IX   CHILD    LIFE      215 

stay  at  home  from  school,  although  the  fits  often  came  on 
during  classes,  [f  his  demands  were  refused,  however 
kindly,  he  whs  cold,  pettish,  and  passionate,  for  a  time,  then 
he  would  humbly  submit.  Sometimes  he  applied  himself 
even  to  over-exertion  to  his  tasks,  at  other  times  he  would 
do  nothing  for  days.  Often  he  ran  away  from  home,  and 
stayed  away  a  long  time,  regardless  of  the  anxiety  which  he 
was  well  aware  his  absence  would  cause. 

Kolle  informs  us  of  a  ten-year-old  boy,  a.  very  delicate 
child,  intelligent,  usually  good-natured  and  obedient,  that  he 
would  sometimes  become  completely  changed.  He  would 
then  talk  about  his  parents  in  the  most  shocking  manner, 
and  when  called  to  account  for  it  by  his  mother,  would 
threaten  her  with  violence. 


Summary 

For  the  understanding  of  the  psychopathies  which  have 
been  under  discussion,  there  are  still  two  things  to  be  con- 
sidered. First,  one  must  bear  in  mind  that  perfect  health 
and  pronounced  disease  are  separated  from  each  other,  not 
by  a  sharp  line  of  distinction,  but  rather  by  numerous  inter- 
mediate conditions.  These  transitional  forms  are  of  common 
occurrence  in  children.  Secondly,  we  must  notice  that  in 
the  psychopathies  many  combinations  may  exist.  Combi- 
nations of  neurasthenia  and  hysteria,  or  hysteria  and  epi- 
lepsy, or  epilepsy  and  idiocy,  are  not  rare.  These  conditions 
naturally  increase  the  difficulty  of  recognizing  the  various 
psychopathies.  Hut  the  teacher  must  not  be  discouraged 
by  these  difficulties,  but  take  heart  from  the  words  of 
Binswanger:  "If  the  teacher  possesses  a  sufficient  under- 
standing of  abnormal  conditions  in  childhood,  there  opens 
to  him  a  rich  held  of  activity.     The  means  have  been  placed 


216  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OP   CHILDHOOD 

in  his  hand  whereby  he  may  influence  the  parents  in  such 
cases,  and  bring  about  the  consultation  of  a  competent 
physician,  and  secure  the  proper  treatment  of  the  sufferer." 
In  order  that  the  reader  may  compare  the  various  psy- 
chopathies more  conveniently,  we  collect  the  main  symp- 
toms in  the  following  summary  : 


PSYCHOPATHIC    CONDITIONS    IN    CHILD    LI  IK      217 


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INDEX 


Abstraction,  119. 
Accommodation,  2. 
Activity,  40,  50,  150,  151,  180. 
Affection,  87. 
Altruism,  DO. 
Anger,  79  ff. 

Anthropomorphism,  190. 
Association,  of  ideas,  49,  52  ff.,  78; 

of  movements,  7,  8. 
Astonishment,  82. 
Attention,  7,  47, 116,  117. 

Beauty,  85,  86,  166,  178. 
Brain,  126. 
Breathing,  123. 

Catarrh,  36. 

Cheerfulness,  91. 

Color  blindness,  11,  18,  19, 166. 

Color  sense,  11  ff.,  15  ff. 

Conception,  63  ff.,  137,  141. 

Consonants,  152  ff. 

Coordination,  4-0. 

Crowing,  40,  41,  98. 

Cry,  39,  89,  99,  110,  112,  129. 

Curiosity,  41,  82-84. 

Debility,  203. 

Deliberative  movements,  114. 

Desire,  116. 

Discrimination,  11,  35,  44,  45. 

J  disorders,  mental,  51, 50,  Dl,  193  ff. ; 

of  speech,  1  * "»- J  If. 
Dramatic  instinct,  61,  86, 185. 
Drawing,  166  ff. 
Dreams,  60,  79. 

Education,  30,  34,  79,  119  ff.,  151. 
Epilepsy,  202,  213-214. 
Expressive  movements,  109  ff. 


Eye,  1-4,  29. 
Eye-movements,  4-5, 101. 

Fear,  76  ff.,  207. 
Fixation,  6. 
Fixed  ideas,  57. 

Generalization,  65  ff.,  119. 
Gesture,  110,  118,  122. 

Habit,  102. 

Hallucination,  20-21,  58,  199,  208. 

Hearing,  21  ff.,  205. 

Heredity,  4,  25,  DD,  119  ff. 

Homesickness,  88. 

Humor,  84. 

Hunger,  39. 

Hyperphautasy,  62. 

Hypersensibility,  205,  208. 

Hysteria,  208  ff. 

"I,"  73-74,  140. 

Idea-rout,  56. 

Ideational  movements,  97,   105  ff., 

161. 
Idiocy,  200. 
Illusions,  20-21,  46-47. 
Imagination,  5D  ff.,  185. 
Imbecility,  200-202. 
Imitation,  44,  106  ff.,  117,  120,  131, 

134,  137,  141,  1G7. 
Impulsive  movements,  06,  D7  ff.,  154, 

161. 
Inhibition,  94,  101,116. 
Instinctive  movements,   97,  102  ff., 

161. 
Interpretation  of  sensations,  19-20, 

24. 
218 


INDEX 


219 


Jealousy,  90. 
Judgment,  U7  ft. 

Kiss,  112. 

Language,  13,  64,  118  ff. 

Larynx,  124,  L25. 

Laugh,  si.  86,  100,111. 
Left-handedness,  102-103. 
Lies,  181  IT. 
Light,  2  3. 
Lips,  28. 

Localization,  23,  44. 
Longs,  123-124. 

Mania,  195. 

Melancholy,  91,  92,  197. 
Melody,  25-26. 
Memory,  31,  47  ff.,  88. 
Mirror  image,  71. 
Morality,  179  ff.,  189. 
Music,  25,  85. 

Nature  study,  192. 
Neurasthenia,  205. 
Nodding,  113. 
Nose,  28,  30. 

Pain,  39,  101. 
Palm,  30. 
Paranoia,  199. 
Parts  of  speech,  148. 
Perception,  38,  44  ff. 
Personality,  189. 
Perspective,  It)  IT. 
Phantasy,  186,  199. 
Pictures,  166  ff. 
Play,  61. 
Pleasure,  L0,  84. 
Pronouns,  l  L0. 
Pronunciation,  154  IP.  165. 
Property,  feeling  of,  72,  90. 
Psychopathies,  193  ff. 
Punishment,  L87  ff.,200. 

Recept,  64. 
Recognition,  16,  89. 


Reduplication,  136,  160. 
Reflexes,  3,  97,  98  IP,  181. 
Religion,  189. 
Representation,  Hi"  168. 

Plis  thm,  25. 

School  children,  15  ff.,  18,  34,  37,  50, 

56,  164, 182  ff. 
Scribble,  167,  168,  172. 
Seeing,  6  ff. 
Self,  31,  7()  IT. 
Selfishness,  89,  90. 

' Si 'li sat  ions,  fi  IT. 
Sentences,  135  ff. 
Sleep,  '.18,208. 
Smile,  in.  B7,  98,  110,  111. 
Sneezing,  99. 
Sound,  22, 

Sounds,  128  ff.,  151  ff. 
Space,  42,  1 1. 
Stammering,  165. 
Standing,  104. 
Stuttering,  164. 
Sucking,  45,  103. 
Suggestion,  88,  182,  184,  185. 
Suicide,  198. 

Summary  of  psychopathies,  217. 
Surprise,  81  ff. 
Sympathy,  87-89. 

Teacher,  37,  184,  193,  200,  204,  210, 

215. 
Tears,  112-113. 
Temper,  92. 
Thirst,  39. 

Thought  impediment,  56. 
Timbre,  24. 
Tongue,  28,  126. 
Toys,  ITS. 

Trachea,  125. 

Transformation,  75,  95,  96,  99,  161, 
L67,  179. 

Vocabularies,  143  ff. 
Vowels,  152,  153. 

Walking,  LI,  L04-105. 
Weeping,  1 L2. 

Will,  'M  IT.,  101,  114. 


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